Family Processes in One-Parent, Stepparent, and Intact Families: The Child's Point of View

In a study of the effects of divorce and remarriage on the adjustment and development of children, primary school children (n = 172) and adolescents (n = 170) reported on processes in three types of families: mother-custody one-parent, mother-custody stepparent, and intact two-parent. Children reported similar levels of support and punishment from mothers, regardless of family type. Compared with children in intact families, children in one-parent families reported less father support, less father control, less father punishment, more autonomy, more household responsibility, more conflict with siblings, and less family cohesion. Stepfathers were said to provide less support, control, and punishment than biologicalfathers in intact families, although stepfather involvement was positively associated with the number of years stepfamilies had been together.