Parenting style and practices in stepfamilies

Abstract

There are several studies on the best way to raise a child, ie, what would be the consequences of our actions for our children. We tend to think of how to educate children in a traditional family, but society has undergone many changes and, hence, family structures have undergone changes too. Today, we find a large number of stepfamilies facing the same issues concerning how to educate a child. Stepfamily configuration often entails more than just the addition of a new parent figure. The objective of this study was to shed some light on how these stepfamilies deal with issues of parenting style and practices. We reviewed the Brazilian and international literature concerning parenting styles and practices in stepfamilies. The papers identified were organized and submitted to analysis. We identified very few papers addressing parenting styles and practices, pointing to an important but unaddressed social change as reflected in new family structures. There is a need for longitudinal studies aimed at understanding not only a particular moment in time, but also moments within a context, ie, an analysis with a holistic approach without preconceived ideas.

Is Variation in Biological and Residential Ties to Children Linked to Mothers’ Parental Stress and Perceptions of Coparenting?

“…Why might maternal perceptions of parenting in a stepfamily be unrelated to the presence of a mother's children from a prior union? One, perhaps mothers have fairly low expectations for stepfathers as parents (Cassoni & Caldana, 2012;Shapiro & Stewart, 2011) and are thus more easily satisfied with their partner's parenting behaviors. If mothers do not expect their partner to completely take on the father role -for instance, by fully sharing in discipline, helping with homework, or even engaging in playful interactions -then any such behaviors may meet their expectations, and in fact, mothers may be grateful for any level of involvement from stepfathers.…”