MID-LIFE PARENTING AND FRIENDSHIP RELATIONSHIPS
Heather Helms: My research to date has focused on the link between parents' work and their marital and family relationships, including gender-role issues in marriage, parenting and work concerns of dual-earner couples, and the gender-role socialization of pre-adolescent and adolescent children in dual-earner families. Conceptually, my empirical work is grounded in ecological, developmental and feminist frameworks. My most recent research focuses on the social context of family relationships-more specifically the links between marital quality and spouses' close friendships. Broadly conceived, my research interests address three themes in the field of family studies: (1) family process; (2) links between parents' work and family relationships; and, (3) links between friendship and family relationships.