Purpose: This integrative review concerns nursing research on parent-child interaction and relationships published from 1980 through 2008 and includes assessment and intervention studies in clinically important settings (e.g., feeding, teaching, play).
Conclusions: Directions for research include development of theoretical frameworks, valid observational systems, and multivariate and longitudinal data analytic strategies.
Practice implications: Observation of social-emotional as well as task-related interaction qualities in the context of assessing parent-child relationships could generate new questions for nursing research and for family-centered nursing practice.