A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, 2018. / In this study, the qualitative approach was used to study the experiences of growing up as a stepchild. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of growing up as a stepchild for young adults at university level. Half of the participants were male and half were females between the ages of 18 and 25. The results were presented as themes that were found to be common amongst the participants’ narratives. The themes are discussed and recommendations were made for functional stepfamily relationships and environment.

The objective of this study was to explore the problems existing in stepfamilies, which affect the relationship between stepparents and adolescent children and their effects on the different systems within these families. A qualitative research approach was followed. Three focus groups were conducted with the respondents. These focus groups were exploring the way things are regarding the adolescent stepchildren’s appraisal of the problems of having a stepparent, relating to him/her; their available coping resources; and their coping responses in adjusting to the situation. The respondents reported limited family interaction. It was also discovered that they were not freely expressing their feelings, especially about their stepparents. Their respondents, their biological parents and their stepparents have received limited professional assistance regarding their to-be-established stepfamilies. The outcomes of this study have shown that the stepfamily members need more professional support in terms of coping with the family situation. The stepfamily members need guidance and assistance with the coping responses with the stressors of having a stepfamily. Further research is recommended to describe the stepparents and biological parent’s relationship to their adolescent stepchildren, in order to provide comparative data for the present study. A study can also be conducted to determine further needs of stepfamilies, especially before remarriage, with regards to professional support services, for instance pre-marital counseling, legal issues pertaining to inheritance, wills, maintenance of stepchildren, adoption and custody of stepchildren. / Dissertation (MA (SW) (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Previous stepfamily research suggested that the parenting styles of biological parents and stepparents are related to children's behavioral adjustment. Scant research also provided evidence of the significance of combined parenting styles on emerging adults' behavioral adjustment. In conjunction with this literature, the scope of the current study served four purposes. First, the current study examined the degree to which parenting styles predict emerging adults' behavioral adjustment. Second, the degree to which biological parent and stepparent parenting styles predict the emerging adult-biological parent and stepparent relationships was examined. Third, the degree to which the emerging adult-biological parent and stepparent relationships predict adjustment was examined. Fourth, emerging adult-biological parent and stepparent relationships were examined as mediators in the relationship between parenting styles and emerging adults' adjustment. As part of this study, 100 emerging adults who were enrolled in a psychology course at the University of Central Florida were given a series of questionnaires regarding the variables of interest (i.e., parenting style, stepparenting style, biological parent-emerging adult relationships, stepparent-emerging adult relationships, and emerging adults' adjustment). Results of this study provided confirmation of previously held notions that both parenting styles and relationships are predictors of emerging adults' adjustment. Additionally, this study contributes new information concerning the significance of combined parenting styles and the use of parent-emerging adult relationships as a mediator between an authoritative parenting style and emerging adults' adjustment.

This is a qualitative study aiming to study stepparents’ view of the relationships within the stepfamily and their thoughts about what makes it work. It is based upon three stepmothers’ life stories focusing on their relationships with their stepchildren. The study is based on a symbolic interactionistic theory and explores the experiences and unique perceptions of these women in their life as stepparents. The main conclusions of this study are that it is important to begin your journey as a stepparent building a good relationship with the child, prior to acting as a co-parent. The stepmothers all describe different strategies to create a sense of common ground with the child. It is also important to feel support and mandate within oneself and from the family members to act as an important adult. Lack of support makes relationships within the stepfamily difficult. In the absence of clarity when it comes to being a stepparent, it seems that these stepmothers have created their own role, based on their ideas of "good parenting". Emotions play an important part when it comes to how relationships develop within the stepfamily.

This is a qualitative study aiming to study stepparents’ view of the relationships within the stepfamily and their thoughts about what makes it work. It is based upon three stepmothers’ life stories focusing on their relationships with their stepchildren. The study is based on a symbolic interactionistic theory and explores the experiences and unique perceptions of these women in their life as stepparents. The main conclusions of this study are that it is important to begin your journey as a stepparent building a good relationship with the child, prior to acting as a co-parent. The stepmothers all describe different strategies to create a sense of common ground with the child. It is also important to feel support and mandate within oneself and from the family members to act as an important adult. Lack of support makes relationships within the stepfamily difficult. In the absence of clarity when it comes to being a stepparent, it seems that these stepmothers have created their own role, based on their ideas of "good parenting". Emotions play an important part when it comes to how relationships develop within the stepfamily.

abstract: This study applies Relational Dialectic Theory to analyze the stepparent and stepchild relationship of one family. The data is documented in an autoethnography. Autoethnography is an approach to data collection in which the researcher’s own experience is the source of data, and the experience is studied to deepen understandings of social reality. This study highlights the complexity of the stepparent-stepchild relationship, the uncertainty surrounding the stepparent role, and identifies the dialectic tensions that exist within the stepparent-stepchild relationship. The dialectics identified by this study include: emotional-closeness-distance, past-present, autonomy connection, and parent-friend. The findings related to how these dialectic tensions emerge and are managed within stepparent-stepchild relationships have implications for stepparents and spouses of stepparents and for new parents and parents in traditional family structures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Communication Studies 2015

This study examined stepparents' privacy boundary management when engaging in communicative interactions with stepchildren. I utilized Petronio's communication privacy management theory to investigate stepparents' motivations of disclosing or concealing from stepchildren as well as how stepparents' gender influences such motivations. Moreover, present research also explored types of privacy dilemma within stepfamily households from stepparent perspectives. Fifteen stepfathers and 15 stepmothers received in-depth interviews about their self-disclosing and concealment experiences with stepchildren. I identified confidant dilemma and accidental dilemma in stepfamily households from stepparents' perspectives, as well as stepparents' gender differences in self-disclosing and concealing motivations. Findings also suggest that stepparents reveal and conceal from stepchildren out of same motivations: establishing good relationships, viewing stepchildren as own children, helping stepchildren with problems resulting from the divorce and viewing stepchildren as "others." The result also indicates that stepparents experienced dialectical tensions between closedness and openness during the decision of revealing or concealing from stepchildren.

Studien undersöker styvföräldrars upplevelse av vilka faktorer som påverkar relationerna och samspelet i styvfamiljen. Frågeställningen är: Vilka faktorer upplever styvföräldrar påverkar relationerna i styvfamiljen? Undersökningen är en kvalitativ studie med fem intervjuer av styvföräldrar. Intervjuerna har analyserats med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Resultat: I studien framkommer tre teman; relationsbyggande, konflikter och skuldkänslor.Studien visade att om det finns en stabil grund där tid har lagts ner på att bygga upp relationerna i styvfamiljen påverkar det relationerna positivt. Styvföräldrarollen behöver klargöras speciellt när det gäller förväntningar på rollen, ansvar och vilka befogenheter styvförälderns ska ha. Vid konflikter i styvfamiljen och inom familjesystemet kan styvföräldern inta en roll som neutral medlare vilket upplevs som positivt. Då konflikt finns mellan de biologiska föräldrarna kan barnen bli budbärare mellan system vilket har en negativ påverkan på styvfamiljen. En biologisk förälders brist på engagemang kan skapa skuldkänslor hos den andre föräldern. Då en förälder är långvarigt sjuk kan barnet ta ansvar för denna förälder vilket kan påverka så att barnet får en minskad eller obefintlig kontakt med den andre föräldern. / An investigation of stepparents experiences of what factors influence the stepfamily and the relationships in stepfamilies.Research question: Which are the factors that stepparents experience influence the relationships in the stepfamily?This study uses a qualitative methodology. Five stepparents have been interviewed and the interviews have been analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Three themes appeared from the analysis; building relationships, conflicts and feelings of quilt. If the relationships in the stepfamily have been developed and been build up it influence the stepfamily in a positive way. The stepparent role needs to be clarified, especially when it comes to responsibility and powers of the stepparent. When conflicts occur in the stepfamily the stepparent can take the role of being a mediator that could be a positive factor. When there is a conflict between the biological parents the children could take different roles that influence the family in a negative way. If the biological parent is’t engaged in the children, feelings of guilt could be developed among the other parent. If a biological parent is long term sick the child can take responsibility for this parent and it can affect so that the child have less or no contact with the other parent.