Do Stepparents Experience More Parental Antagonism Than Biological Parents? A Test of Evolutionary and Socialization Perspectives

O'Connor, Alana; Boag, Simon

doi:10.1080/10502556.2010.504101

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 52 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Some studies have also suggested that stepfathers often provide less warmth and support (Pasley, Dollahite, & Ihinger-Tallman, 1993), and children often reported less positive interaction with stepfathers compared with biological fathers (Dunn, Deater-Deckard, Pickering, O'Connor, & Golding, 1998; Hetherington et al, 1998). Moreover, studies have found that children living in stepfamilies are at a greater risk for abuse (Daly & Wilson, 1985, 1994), which in part may be explained by the nonbiological relationship between children and stepfathers (O'Connor & Boag, 2010). Further research is needed to understand the custodial parent's impact on COAs’ behavioral adjustment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcoholic family marital heterogeneity aggregates different child behavior problems both pre- and postseparation

Jester

Puttler

et al. 2018

Dev Psychopathol

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Children of alcoholics (COAs) are at risk for elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Yet, little is known about the familial and behavioral adjustments of COAs following parental separation. Using an ecological-transactional framework, we examined how multiple risk factors contributed to the formation of different alcoholic family structures and how living in heterogeneous family structures affected COAs' behavioral problems. The Michigan Longitudinal Study, a multiwave study on initially intact alcoholic and control families with preschool-age children (n = 503), was used to evaluate outcomes of offspring, when families either remained intact or were separated when the child was aged 12-14. Alcoholic families who later transitioned into stepfamilies were characterized with higher paternal antisociality, marital aggression, and serious family crises than alcoholic families that remained intact. COAs in stepfamilies (but not in single-parent families) exhibited higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in preadolescence compared with those in alcoholic intact families, in part because of elevated behavioral risk at age 3. Structural equation modeling indicated that the aggregated risk of stepfamily residence directly related to COAs' internalizing and indirectly related to COAs' externalizing problems, partially mediated by family stressors. Findings suggest targeting COAs in separated families for early intervention.

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