A scoping review of research on well‐being across diverse family structures: Rethinking approaches for understanding contemporary families

Abstract

In the United States and across the globe, demographic trends have coalesced to produce an increasingly diverse set of family structures, fueling international interest in exploring diverse family structures as key developmental contexts for adults and children. Given the persistence of research focused on well-being differences across family structures, and in order to move this research into the future productively, it is critical to rigorously chart and evaluate how this research is being conducted. In this scoping review, we evaluate 283 studies that examined associations between family structure and well-being. We reflect on dominant methodological trends across four primary domains: (a) approaches to measuring family structure, (b) approaches to analyzing associations between family structure and well-being, (c) the application of theory, and (d) conceptualizations of well-being. In evaluating observable trends, we offer recommendations for rethinking where we can (and perhaps should) go next to better understand and support contemporary families.

Interlinking structural racism and heteropatriarchy: Rethinking family structure's effects on child outcomes in a racialized, unequal society

“…These are critical steps in analytical approaches to the study of Black children, youth, and families. However, we would argue that measures of family structure are also socially constructed and, as Jensen and Sanner (2021) recently suggested, have failed to fully capture the complexity and diversity of dynamic family structures formed through biological, legal, or social relatedness within and between households over time. There is also a growing recognition of the exclusion of data and methods required to observe and interpret the effects of structural racism on family structure within national datasets.…”

“…As Jensen and Sanner (2021) conclude in their scoping review of the extant research on well‐being across diverse family structures, “[t]he inherent and unchallenged bias toward the nuclear family model looms large in this literature” (p. 15). Jensen and Sanner (2021) further conclude that the body of research focused on family structure and child outcomes are devoid of theoretical guidance, and would benefit from the integration of critical theories (e.g., critical race, feminist, queer theories). So powerful is the “traditional nuclear family is best” ideology that it appears to drive the discourse seemingly unchecked.…”

Understanding and Serving All Families: Introduction to the Special Issue on Supporting Structurally Diverse Families

“…Of 3,932 peer-reviewed articles published in top family science journals from 2008 to 2019, only 10% of articles focused on anything other than biological parent–child or intimate couple (predominately different-sex marital couple) relationships (Perez-Brena et al, 2022). When more diverse forms of family structures are studied, investigations are most frequently framed from a deficit-comparison approach in which diverse family forms are compared to nuclear families with a presumption that difficulties, challenges, or variations in individual experiences are the result of some failing of those alternative structures (or the individuals living in them; Ganong et al, 2015; Jensen & Sanner, 2021). Another interpretation of such findings, however, could be that they reflect the failure of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to adequately serve and provide support to these populations (Russell, Beckmeyer, & Su-Russell, 2018; Russell, Coleman, & Ganong, 2018).…”

Stepparent–Child Relationships and Child Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Indeed, 42% of adults in the United States report having at least one step-relative (Pew Research Center, 2011). Although research continues to investigate outcome differences across diverse family structures emerging from these and other related trends, there remain ongoing calls to focus on adaptive processes within particular family structures that promote well-being (e.g., Coleman et al, 2000; Jensen & Sanner, 2021).…”