THE RELATIONS OF MATERNAL SOCIAL SUPPORT AND FAMILY-STRUCTURE WITH MATERNAL RESPONSIVENESS AND CHILD OUTCOMES AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES

The social support networks and family structure of 62 low-income Afri can American mothers were related to proximal and distal measures of t he mother's parenting style and to the children's social and cognitive development. Women with larger support networks tended to be more res ponsive in interactions with their infants and to provide more stimula ting home environments than mothers with smaller social networks. Acti vity level was the only infant outcome significantly related to social support. Family structure was not associated with either maternal or child outcomes in these analyses. These results support a systems mode l of parenting behavior and child development by indicating that mater nal caregiving may be positively influenced by supportive social netwo rks.