Stepfamilies Essay

2. The article focused on the question “How well do children fare in remarried families” (Anderson & Greene, 2013, p. 120). Most of the studies compared children in stepfamilies to children living with first-marriage parents. A lot of the research using that approach is criticized for two reasons. This approach pretty much states that first-marriage families are the ideal, perfect family. That idea is not necessarily true. The second reason is because comparing first-marriage families to stepfamilies is not appropriate. This is because children in stepfamilies experience effects on themselves from their parents’ divorce and remarriage. First-marriage family children do not experience these changes. Researchers state that children can be categorized into four groups which include “married, two biological parents; unmarried single mother; married stepparent; unmarried cohabitating” (Anderson & Greene, 2013, p. 120). Studies proved that children living in married-stepfather families were worse off academically than children first-marriage parents. The study also stated that children whom belonged to married-stepparent families were better off academically than unmarried cohabitating stepparents. The type of studies that should be conducted to answer the overall question of children being affected negatively by stepfamilies should study children before and after a remarriage. This type of study is very rare though. Studies proved that children in stepfamilies had no effect on academics, such as reading and math. Research that is conducted on families has three main components: “sampling, measurement, and design” (Anderson & Greene, 2013, p. 121). The two types of studies that are conducted are representative surveys and longitudinal s...

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... leaving their life. The family structure is changed as well. Behavior problems in children emerge from transitions in life and inconsistent parenting practices. Another issue is that new parents may not be as involved or as caring to a stepchild. This causes a child to be resistant and the feeling of being unwanted. Children also have to balance being in multiple household with different people. Each household has different rules, members, and locations which is difficult for a child to deal with. Overall, it is hard for children to adjust to change, especially a lot of change at one time. In conclusion, children in stepfamilies are more likely to have adjustment problems. The reasons for this include “less parenting resources, family instability, new roles, responsibilities, and relationships, and dealing with multiple households” (Anderson & Greene, 2013, p. 127).