Marriage Adjustment and Satisfaction of Stepfathers: Their Feelings and Perceptions of Decision Making and Stepchildren Relations

Abstract

Several hypotheses are developed concerning the relationship between marriage adjustment of stepfathers and their perceived involvement in the stepfamily. Initial analyses of the data from a random sample of males in a metropolitan area indicate that some emotional and interactional variables are related to marriage adjustment. The stepfather's role in the family decisionmaking process appears to be important for his marital adjustment. The findings are explained in terms of stepfamily functioning. Applications are discussed. Stepfamilies have become relatively common in modern society (Glick, 1989). In 1987 there were 4.3 million stepfamilies in the United States with 5.85 million stepchildren. In that year stepfamilies constituted 17.4% of all married couple families with young children, but it has been projected that 40% of married couple families will become stepfamilies before the youngest child is 18 years old.