The family is the child's first and longest-lasting context for development. Although other social settings also mold children's development, in power and breadth of influence none equals the family. The human family originated with our hunting-and-gathering ancestors, for whom it was uniquely suited to promote survival. Important functions of the modern family include reproduction, socialization, and emotional support.

According to the social systems perspective, the family consists of a complex network of bidirectional relationships that continually readjust as family members change over time. The quality of these relationships, and therefore children's development, depends in part on links established with formal and informal social supports in the surrounding community.

Child-rearing practices can be organized along two dimensions: demandingness and responsiveness. When combined, these characteristics yield four parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Consistent SES differences in child rearing exist, and ethnic variations in child rearing can be understood in terms of cultural values and the context in which families live.

Rapid changes in family life have taken place in Western industrialized nations. The recent trend toward a smaller family size is associated with more favorable child development. Most children grow up with at least one sibling. Parents' early differential treatment of siblings has a powerful influence on children's personality development. Only children are just as well adjusted and socially competent as other children and advantaged in some respects. Adopted children and adolescents have more learning and emotional difficulties than do their nonadopted agemates. Transracially and transculturally adopted young people typically develop identities that are healthy blends of their birth and rearing backgrounds.

Children of never-married mothers show slightly better academic performance and emotional adjustment than do children of divorced or remarried mothers but not as good as children in first-marriage families. Large numbers of American children experience the divorce of their parents. Although divorce is painful for children, evidence shows that remaining in a high-conflict intact family is much worse than making the transition to a low-conflict, single-parent household. Effective parenting is the most important factor in helping children adapt to life in a single-parent or a blended family.

Maternal employment is related to positive outcomes in children, although these vary depending on the children's sex and SES, the demands of the mother's job, and the father's participation in child rearing. High-quality child care fosters cognitive, language, and social development. Unfortunately, much child care in the United States is substandard and poses serious risks to children's development. Self-care children who have a history of authoritative child rearing, are monitored from a distance by telephone calls, and have regular after-school chores appear responsible and well adjusted.

Child maltreatment is related to factors within the family, community, and larger culture, and efforts to prevent it must be directed at each of these levels. Child and parent characteristics often feed on one another to produce abusive behavior. A society that approves of force and violence as appropriate means for solving problems promotes child abuse.