Assessment of Stepfamily Marriages

Abstract

Given the ongoing rise in the numbers of stepfamily constellations in 21st-century society, and given the identified challenges and resultant dissolution rates of these families, clinicians who wish to be of clinical service to stepfamilies require information about the most recent standardized measures for stepfamily assessment. These measures can be divided into those assessments pertaining to issues and patterns of stepparenting and those measures attending to marital dynamics. This article will present psychometric information about two measures of stepfamily marital functioning along with recommendations for the efficacious therapeutic use of each measure.

Family and Systems Theory in Counselor Education: A PRISMA Systematic Review

“…Implementation as a primary theme encompasses articles that recommend adjustments to existing practices within counselor education and professional counseling practice based on alignment with family and systems theory literature. These include recommendations like adjusting treatment (Copley & Carney, 2020; Hurst et al, 2012; Miller & Dillman, 2016), pedagogy (Amatea et al, 2013; Sommer et al, 2011), research practices (Copley & Carney, 2020; Hanna, 2011; Hooper & Britnell, 2012; Hurst et al, 2012; Marquis et al, 2011; Miller & Dillman, 2016; Sommer et al, 2011), assessment approaches (Gold, 2017; 2021; Hooper et al, 2020; Juhnke et al, 2013; Nagy et al, 2021; Neukrug et al, 2013; Peterson et al, 2014; Sanches-Nunez et al, 2013) and institutional or policy change (Hanna, 2011; Hooper & Britnell, 2012; Marquis et al, 2011). Articles with this designation heuristic were further identified by two secondary themes: Research and assessment.…”

“…Articles encompassed within this theme recommend that our assessment procedures and training should be sensitive to family and systems theory which may require an adaptation of assessments not developed for family systems implementation. Recommendations emergent from these articles speak specifically to issues related to blended families (Gold, 2017), abused children (Juhnke et al, 2013), contextual trauma (Gold, 2021) emotional intelligence (Sánches-Núñez et al, 2013), multicultural family dynamics (Hooper et al, 2020; Nagy et al, 2021), relational conflict (Bokar et al, 2011), and general assessment procedures and training (Neukrug et al, 2013; Peterson et al, 2014; Platt & Skowron, 2013).…”

The effect of marital satisfaction on the self-assessed depression of husbands and wives: investigating the moderating effects of the number of children and neurotic personality

“…This can be proved by the negative correlation between the quality of marriage and the quality of parent–child relationship. What cannot be ignored is that the challenge of raising children and stepchildren is more prominent in the stepfamilies, which usually faces more and more unacceptable difficulties in raising children [ 48 ]. The pressure experienced by parents in stepfamilies can also cause spillover effects, leading to negative emotions such as disappointment of their partners [ 14 ].…”

An Actor‐Partner interdependence model of parenting difficulties over time in stepfamilies

“…Many of the challenges of stepfamily formation revolve around parenting and stepparenting stress and the role ambiguity remarried couples encounter (Gold, 2017). Stepfamily formation involves negotiation processes in which household issues and parental roles are established (Favez et al, 2015; Garneau et al, 2015; Murry & Lippold, 2018).…”