The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how and why children’s influence in purchase decisions might vary under different types of families. It was conceptualized that children in different types of families are socialized into different status roles and that these differences in socialization, in turn, would have varied implications for children’s influence. Specifically, it was hypothesized that peerness in parent-child relations and children’s household responsibility would be greatest in single-parent families, less in reconstituted families, and least in intact families. In addition, parental coalition formation, parental restrictiveness, and parental nurturance were expected to be greatest in intact families, less in reconstituted families, and least in single-parent families. Children’s influence was hypothesized to be positively related to peerness, household responsibility, and nurturance, and negatively related to parental coalitions and restrictiveness. Hypotheses were tested using convenience samples of adolescents and one of their parents. Results generally failed to support the model: however, a number of methodological limitations that may have affected the study's outcomes were also present. / Ph. D.