Stepparent-stepchild Relationship Research Articles

Do Children’s “Best Interests” Matter When Tracing Their Filiation in Quebec Civil Law ?

This essay offers a commentary on the intersection between the best interests principle and the law of filiation in Quebec. It highlights the tension between best interests and the positive law of filiation, highlighting the implications for those most vulnerable in family law disputes who have been central to Professor Goubau’s scholarship. The analysis here is premised on a review of four relatively recent decisions handed down by Quebec courts, each distinct in its context. The first considers circumstances of assisted procreation or “parental projects” that result in more than two prospective parents ; the second addresses intercultural adoption contexts ; the third examines determinations of filiation where a child’s birth ensues from a surrogacy agreement ; and the fourth explores how the law deals with stepparent-stepchild relationships. In each context, a judgment is featured to explore how the law intersects with the best interests principle. While none of the judgments are intended to be representative of the state of the law in a given area, each offers an example to illustrate how courts negotiate tensions between the positive law and the best interests principle. While judges will have varying degrees of discretion in different contexts to consider this principle, they acknowledge the tension and seek to reconcile it in a manner that at once foregrounds children’s interests while also correctly applying and interpreting relevant legal authorities.

Remarriage and Stepfamilies in the ‘Western Islands’ of Europe: the rural Azores of Portugal in the 18th and 19th centuries

ABSTRACT This article uses parish registers, libri status animarum, and notarial records from the 18th and 19th centuries to assess the extent to which the rates of remarriage of widows and widowers in the Azores were similar to those of mainland Portugal. We consider that, despite the clear obstacles to marriage on the islands (due especially to male emigration) remarriage was in fact frequent and created stepfamilies. Factors such as social tolerance, sexuality outside of marriage and the lack of stigmatization of remarriage may provide part of the explanation. The article shows that a high proportion of widows gave birth to children during their widowhood and out of wedlock. Further, widows frequently attracted men of a much younger age as spouses, which again was socially tolerated. After remarriage by a widowed parent, the general pattern was to raise stepchildren in the family home. Remarriage rarely led to the departure of a stepchild under 16 from the household. The article considers the life trajectories of children who suffered parental loss and the half-orphans whose parents subsequently remarried. Moreover, a significant number of stepfamilies were formed by single mothers, who later married a man who was not the biological father of their child(ren). Beyond the qualitative analysis of parental loss and remarriage, the article outlines the motives of the widowed parents who sought to remarry quickly and follows some stepfamily experiences to detail the moments of transition and living arrangements of stepfamilies. The parish records combined with documents from notaries allow a qualitative understanding of some of the remarried spousal partnerships as well as the stepparent-stepchild relationships developed over decades.

Effective parenting in stepfamilies: Empirical evidence of what works

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine research evidence about effective childrearing in stepfamilies (i.e., parenting practices that contribute to children's physical, cognitive, and emotional well‐being).BackgroundStepfamilies are increasingly common. Studies show that children in stepfamilies tend to be at higher risk for negative outcomes than children in first‐married biological‐parent families. As research on stepfamilies has expanded, researchers have made strides in identifying parenting practices that promote positive outcomes for children in stepfamilies.MethodWe reviewed 37 studies that contained empirical evidence of effective parenting by biological or adoptive parents of children in stepfamilies.ResultsResearchers have identified numerous actions employed by parents that are linked to children's positive outcomes. Effective parenting practices fall broadly into five domains: (a) maintaining close parent–child bonds, (b) establishing appropriate parent–child communication boundaries, (c) exercising parental control, (d) supporting stepparent–stepchild relationship development, and (e) facilitating stepfamily cohesion.ConclusionsEffective childrearing in stepfamilies involves carefully managing competing family needs, such as the need to balance shared family time with one‐on‐one parent–child time or the need to establish open parent–child communication boundaries in some areas but closed boundaries in others.ImplicationsParents have available to them a number of empirically supported action items linked to child well‐being in stepfamilies.

Protector and friend: Turning points and discursive constructions of the stepparent role

AbstractObjectiveTo understand turning points (TPs) in the development of positive stepparent–stepchild communication and relationships.BackgroundScholars stress the importance of communication in co‐constructing healthy stepparent–stepchild relationships. The researchers focused on positive stepparenting via understanding transformational turning point (TP) events across time. Research questions explored how stepparents with an overall positive relationship with a stepchild characterize TPs and the discursive constructions of the stepparent role.MethodThe team analyzed 877 pages of data from 37 in‐depth interviews with stepparents who described self‐identified TP events, reflected in visual graphs of 279 TPs.ResultsData were coded into 11 TP types, focused on structural and role changes for stepparents, co‐constructed over time. The top three TP types were changes in household composition, communicating support through offering protection and being present/available, and role change, most frequently by functioning as a parent versus friend. All the TPs highlight discursive work to forge positive stepparenting roles.ConclusionsThe findings extend earlier studies of stepchildren's experiences and communication practices that ground resilience to manage relational resources through investments of quality time and enactment of social support.ImplicationsApplications suggest support for stepparents to have quality interactions with stepchildren and training to develop healthy communication practices and facilitate resilience.

Who are my parents? Determining parenthood of surrogate children under Chinese law

ABSTRACT The underground domestic surrogacy market is an open secret in China and many rich Chinese people have had their own children by using overseas surrogacy services. Although the Chinese national legislature has not expressed its legal position with respect to the legality of surrogacy, courts have taken an increasing number of surrogacy disputes in the past two decades, a substantial portion of which dispute over parenthood of surrogate children. The question ‘who are my parents’ requires a legal answer; otherwise, surrogate children will be left in legal limbo in terms of their parentage and sometimes nationality as well. Given its theoretical and practical significance, this article systematically analyses the issue of parenthood of surrogacy children under Chinese law and its implications for the issue of the legality of surrogacy. It finds that Chinese law, which accepts a three-parent model in certain circumstances, has recently creatively developed a dual approach to solving this legal question: the dominant biological connection test and the supplementary test of ‘constructive parenthood based on the stepparent-stepchild relationship’, the latter enabling courts to grant parenthood to a nonbiological intended parent. After assessing the dual approach, it further argues that the approach results in a backdoor acceptance of surrogacy arrangements and Chinese law, therefore, should face up to the increasing demand by infertile families for surrogacy and draw a clear line between lawful and unlawful surrogacy arrangements in accordance with the prevailing ethical views, the newly introduced three-child policy, and the relevant policies concerning woman and minor protection.

Linking Stepfamily Functioning, Marital Quality, and Steprelationship Quality

ObjectiveTo examine whether marital dynamics within remarried couples (in the form of perceived quality and confidence) or perceptions of stepparent–stepchild relationship quality were more strongly associated with stepfamily functioning.BackgroundStepfamilies are common in the United States, and identifying factors central to healthy stepfamily functioning is an important task. Some stepfamily clinicians contend that steprelationships may be more closely related to overall stepfamily functioning than remarriage quality, although empirical support for this assertion is limited.MethodHeterosexual remarried couples (N = 291) responded to online surveys asking about marital quality, marital confidence, stepparent–stepchild relationship quality, and stepfamily functioning (i.e., stepfamily cohesion, expressiveness, and harmony). Data were analyzed using actor–partner interdependence modeling in a structural equation modeling framework.ResultsMarital dynamics were somewhat more strongly associated with stepfamily functioning than stepparent–stepchild relationship quality, although both were positively associated with stepfamily functioning. Confidence in the future of the marriage had a slightly stronger association with stepfamily functioning than did marital quality. Actor effects were more often statistically associated with stepfamily functioning than were partner effects for both stepparents and biological parents.ConclusionFindings validate a family systems approach to strengthening stepfamily functioning by highlighting the joint and unique contributions of both marital dynamics and stepparent–stepchild relationship quality.ImplicationsClinicians and educators working with stepfamilies should attend to both promoting positive, emotionally close steprelationships and strong marital bonds and confidence in higher order marriages.

Stepfathers’ affinity-seeking with stepchildren, stepfather-stepchild relationship quality, marital quality, and stepfamily cohesion among stepfathers and mothers.

Because of the potential stepparent-stepchild relationships have for tension and conflict, clinicians have identified the development of a positive stepparent-stepchild connection as one of the major tasks of stepfamily life. Stepparents often are advised to focus initially on developing friendships with stepchildren, or seeking affinity with them, particularly early in the life of the relationship. Both family systems theory and evolutionary theory suggest that stepparents' affinity-seeking behaviors are related to the quality and functioning of other stepfamily dyads, such as couple relationships, and the whole stepfamily. We extend prior work on stepparents' affinity seeking by including perceptions of both members of the stepcouple about affinity seeking, stepfather-stepchild conflicts, couple relationship quality, and stepfamily cohesion. Stepfathers and mothers from 234 stepcouples independently completed online surveys. After accounting for covariates (i.e., duration of mothers' previous relationships, duration of the stepcouple relationship, focal child's biological sex and age, number of children in the household, and mothers' report of household income), stepfathers' perceptions of affinity-seeking with the focal child significantly predicted both partners' perceptions of stepfather-stepchild conflict, marital quality, marital confidence, and stepfamily cohesion. Mothers' perceptions of stepfathers' affinity-seeking were significantly related to her marital confidence and perceptions of stepfamily cohesion. Stepfathers' perceptions of their affinity-seeking explained more variance in stepfathers' and mothers' outcomes than did mothers' perceptions. The results suggest benefits associated with stepfather affinity-seeking-less conflict with stepchildren, better couple relationships, and closer stepfamily ties. Our findings provide evidence for encouraging stepparents to focus on building affinity with stepchildren. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Les relations interpersonnelles au sein de la famille recomposée : un état de la littérature

Stepfamilies are common nowadays. This article reviews studies on the quality of the various interpersonal relationships in stepfamilies: the stepparent–stepchild relationship, the parent–child relationship, the marital and coparenting relationships, and overall family functioning. We discuss the studies’ findings on how these relationships are linked and how they affect children's internalized and externalized difficulties. Finally, on the basis of this empirical review, we propose some directions for future work for professionals working with stepfamilies that could improve understanding of the relationship issues specific to stepfamilies.

Stepchildren's Views About Former Step‐Relationships Following Stepfamily Dissolution

Remarriages end in divorce more often than first marriages, so many stepchildren experience multiple parental divorces and the potential loss of significant family ties. Although there is substantial research on parent–child relationships after divorce, little is known about stepparent–stepchild relationships after divorce. Therefore, the authors conducted a grounded theory study of 41 adults who had undergone a stepfamily dissolution to explore their experiences with former stepparents. Postdivorce relationships with former stepparents are a function of whether stepchildren thought of their former stepparents as kin. Postdivorce step‐relationships were based on whether the stepchild had claimed the stepparent as kin, had once claimed them as kin but disclaimed them after the divorce, or had never claimed them as family members (unclaimed stepparents). Emotional reactions to parental divorce, patterns of support or resource exchanges, and parental encouragement or discouragement for continuing step‐relationships were identified. Implications for families, practitioners, and researchers are discussed.

Relational frames as mediators of everyday talk and relational satisfaction in stepparent–stepchild relationships

This study tested the degree to which stepchildren’s relational frames operate as explanatory mechanisms for the positive association between everyday talk and relational satisfaction in stepparent–stepchild relationships. Participants included 127 stepparent–stepchild dyads from the Midwest and Southwest regions of the U.S. Results indicated that stepchildren’s everyday talk with their residential stepparent positively predicts their positive regard for the stepparent, the parental authority they grant the stepparent, and their affective certainty within the relationship. Bootstrapping analyses revealed significant indirect effects for both stepchildren’s and stepparents’ everyday talk on stepchildren’s relational satisfaction through stepchildren’s positive regard (i.e., an affiliation–disaffiliation frame). When combined, everyday talk and stepchildren’s relational frames account for 74% of the shared variance in stepchildren’s satisfaction with their stepparent.

A Case Study of a Stepfamily’s Relationship Experiences Before and After the Death of a Custodial Biological Parent

Over the past two decades, the traditional family of mother, father, and shared biological children as the dominant structure of a family has been replaced by the modern family—the stepfamily. The present study explored a stepfamily for the purpose of understanding a phenomenon, that is, a stepfamily’s experiences before and after the death of a custodial biological parent. This article, therefore, presents the findings of the examination of the stepparent–stepchild relationship and the effects of the death of the custodial biological parent on the stepfamily as individuals and as a family unit. Findings demonstrated the premises of Minuchin’s structural theory and Bowlby’s attachment theory as theoretical frameworks and Social Constructionism as the philosophical framework, respectively. Family counselors in their role as clinicians will be informed of a stepfamily’s relational associations, interactions, and cultural worldviews, thereby providing direction for clinical interventions from an empirically based perspective. Moreover, the findings will inform better practice through the understanding of how the death of a custodial biological parent affects continued association between a stepparent and stepchild (children).

What Narrows the Stepgap? Closeness Between Parents and Adult (Step)Children in Germany

Using data from the German Family Panel (pairfam) based on 11,746 intergenerational family relationships, the present study examined differences in parental closeness across relations with multiple, coresidential, and non‐coresidential adolescent and adult children. Replicating previous research in a multilevel analysis across families, the authors found a strong positive effect of biological descent on closeness in comparison to adoptive and steprelations; this parental favoritism toward biological offspring was partly explained by selection via parental resources and attitudes. Supplemental within‐parent fixed effect analyses suggested that the relative disadvantage of stepchildren was offset by longer duration of the stepparent–stepchild relationship, lower household income, fewer children in the household, and high parental affirmation of familism.

Deeltijds versus voltijds stiefouderschap: de relatie tussen stiefouders en stiefkinderen in moedergezinnen, vadergezinnen en verblijfsco-ouderschap na scheiding

Joint custody arrangements following parental divorce create a specific context for the development of the relationship between stepparents and stepchildren. Using data from the research project Divorce in Flanders (DiF) we test the impor¬ tance of fulltime and parttime co-residence and a limited stepchildrearing role for a good stepparent-stepchild relationship. Spillover effects are considered from both parent-child relationships and relationships between old and new partners. We compare the results for the reported relationship quality by stepparent and stepchild. The results show that the importance of co-residence mainly runs via relationships with and between other family members. There are a lot of spill¬ over effects from relationships within the same household, but not from relation¬ ships between households. The strongest between-household relationship is the one between mothers and stepmothers regarding the stepmother-stepchild rela¬ tionship. There are different indications that there is more competition between the mother and stepmother role than between the father and stepfather role.

Patterns of Stepchild-Stepparent Relationship Development

Thirty-two stepdaughters and 17 stepsons participated in this grounded theory study of emerging adult stepchildren's perceptions about how relationships with their stepparents developed. The theory created from this study proposes that the degree to which stepchildren engage in relationship-building and -maintaining behaviors with stepparents is a function of stepchildren's evaluative judgments about the stepparents' positive contributions. Stepchildren's judgments about stepparents are made with inputs from biological parents and other kin. Stepchildren's ages when relationships began, gender of stepchildren and stepparents, and time spent together because of custody arrangements provided the context within which relationships developed. The outcomes in this grounded theory were six patterns of step-relationship development: accepting as a parent, liking from the start, accepting with ambivalence, changing trajectory, rejecting, and coexisting. These patterns of development were distinct trajectories that related closely to qualitatively different stepparent-stepchild relationships. Only 30% of stepchildren with multiple stepparents evaluated them similarly. Key Words: grounded theory, remarriage, stepchild, stepparent. adore Jim. I despised Bill. Greta was great. Laura 1 did like: I disagreed with her on a lot of stuff, but 1 did really get along with her. And Babbette just isn't a pleasant person. - Nina, about her stepparents. Although clinicians (Visher & Visher, 1996) and researchers (Crosbie-Burnett, 1984) have long focused attention on stepparent -stepchild relationships as key to overall stepfamily functioning, surprisingly little research exists on the processes by which these relationships develop (Ganong & Coleman, 2004; King, 2006). Given that almost one third of U.S. children will live with a stepparent before they reach adulthood (Bumpass, Raley, & Sweet, 1995) and that lower levels of well-being among stepchildren compared to children in nuclear families have often been attributed to adjustment problems related to acquiring a stepparent (Ganong & Coleman), it is important for researchers to better understand how step-relationships develop, particularly step-relationships that are satisfying for the individuals involved. Knowing how affirming step-relationships develop is useful for practitioners and researchers. Stepparents ' Contributions to Step-relationships Several researchers have reported that steprelationships are closer when stepparents take a supportive role with stepchildren and let biological parents do most of the disciplining (CrosbieBurnett & Giles-Sims, 1994; Hetherington & Clingempeel, 1992). Additionally, authoritative stepparents - who favor high warmth and flexible control as a parenting style - have better relationships with stepchildren than authoritarian stepparents, who demonstrate low warmth and high control (Golish, 2003; Henry & Lovelace, 1995). Some stepparents recognize that their stepchildren are more willing to accept them if they treat them warmly (EreraWeatherly, 1996; Svare, Jay, & Mason, 2004) and engage in friendship-building strategies early in the relationship (Ganong, Coleman, Fine, & Martin, 1999). These research findings echo clinicians' advice for stepparents to befriend stepchildren and try to build close relationships with them before attempting to discipline them (Visher & Visher, 1 996). Although the idea that stepparents should engage stepchildren in activities that are supportive and fun until relational bonds are firmly established may seem logical, not all stepparents do this (Ganong et al., 1999). Many stepparents quickly try to set rules and administer discipline (Berger, 1998; Bray & Kelly, 1998; Erera-Weatherly, 1996; MacDonald & DeMaris, 1996), which often results in conflict and emotionally distant relationships (Bray & Kelly, 1998; Ganong et al. …

Patterns of exchange and intergenerational responsibilities after divorce and remarriage

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reciprocal and nonreciprocal patterns of exchange on beliefs about intergenerational responsibilities in parent–child and stepparent–stepchild relationships. A national sample of 1044 adults responded to a multiple segment factorial survey. Normative responsibilities to assist kin were greater than to assist step-kin and normative responsibilities to assist an older family member were greater when patterns of exchanges were reciprocal than when they were not. The open-ended responses and quantitative data suggest ambiguous views of intergenerational transfers.

Therapists' Perceptions of Bioparent-Child Relationships in Stepfamilies

Stepfamily relationship research has focused on step-relationships with particular emphasis on stepparent-stepchild relationships, despite increasing evidence that residential bioparent-child relationships can be negatively impacted through remarriage and stepfamily living. In this project, 9 stepfamily therapists were interviewed about their experiences of the bioparent-child dyad in stepfamilies. A number of themes emerged from these interviews around parental responses and stepfamily processes that were observed by the therapists to be hurtful or helpful for children and adolescents. These included loss of time and attention; differences in meaning of remarriage for children and parents; problems around discipline, and loyalty issues; the ongoing psychological significance of the original family; and interparental conflict. Implications for models of stepfamily adjustment are discussed.

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Research on stepchildren has often focused on outcomes that are related to growing up in a stepfamily. These studies are crucial for identifying at-risk behaviors, but they do not stem from issues stepchildren have identified as important. Responses from 36 young adult stepchildren regarding the best and worst parts of stepfamily life are described. Three themes were identified as the best part of growing up in a stepfamily: emotional resources, material resources and personal growth. Five themes were identified as the worst: emotional stress, divided loyalties between two families, loss, changes, and that the stepparent was not really a parent. The next step is to examine the relationship between the quality of the stepparent-stepchild relationship and perceived personal competence of stepchildren at young adulthood.

Young Adults' Perceptions of Parents' Responses in Stepfamilies

Stepfamily relationship research has emphasized the stepparent role and relationships between stepparents and stepchildren, neglecting the study of bioparent-child relationships in stepfamily households. In this study, 28 young adults from stepfamilies participated in group interviews, that focussed on their perceptions of parental responses in childhood stepfamily situations. A number of themes emerged around parental responses experienced as hurtful or helpful. These included the importance for children of parental attention and communication, perceptions of loyalty, discipline issues, parental decisions related to transitions and the ongoing relationship with the non-resident parent. It is argued that the bioparent-child relationship may be more important to child wellbeing than the stepparent-stepchild relationship; and that increased research emphasis on this biological dyad will contribute significantly to an understanding of healthy stepfamily adjustment.

Perceived Understanding and Self-Disclosure in the Stepparent-Stepchild Relationship

The relationship between self-disclosure and perceived understanding in the stepparent-stepchild relationship was investigated. Stepchildren (N = 165) completed a questionnaire about their communication with their stepparents. Participants reported on their self-disclosure (intentionality, amount, positiveness, depth, and honesty) and their feelings of being understood by their stepparents. The results showed that self-disclosure was positively related to perceived understanding. This was especially true for the relationship between honesty of self-disclosure and perceived understanding. Analyses involving gender of the individuals in the stepchild-stepparent dyad showed several differences. The relationship between self-disclosure and perceived understanding was more significant for stepdaughters than for stepsons.

Stepparents' Affinity-Seeking and Affinity-Maintaining Strategies With Stepchildren

The purposes of this study were to examine the strategies that stepparents use to develop and maintain affinity with stepchildren and the effects that these strategies have on the development of stepparent-stepchild relationships. Data were collected via interviews with members of 17 stepfamilies in which there was at least one stepchild between the ages of 10 and 19 living in the household. Stepparent-stepchild relationships are characterized by liking and affection when stepparents focus on developing friendships with stepchildren and when they continue those efforts after they begin sharing a residence together. We identified 31 affinity-seeking strategies. Dyadic activities worked best, but it is important that stepchildren recognize affinity-seeking attempts. The success of affinity-seeking and affinity-maintaining strategies are contingent on the interpersonal and intrapersonal contexts within which they occur. In the stepfamilies in which step-relationships were poor, there was competition from the nonresidential parent, the stepparents had take-charge personalities, and the stepchildren did not recognize the stepparent's affinity-seeking efforts.