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This thesis investigates different aspects of family structure and children’s well-being in Sweden. Applying a child perspective, it analyzes children’s likelihood of stepfamily entry, their emotional well-being in different family forms and educational outcomes in families with complex sibling structures. Analyses are performed using data from nationally representative surveys of both parents and children as well as from administrative registers. The results do not show any socioeconomic differences in the process of family reconstitution, although children of parents with low educational attainment are more likely to be in the risk pool for stepfamily formation. There are however differences by gender, with girls having higher likelihood of stepfamily entry than boys, especially in the younger ages. Children are also more likely to experience a stepfamily formation on the paternal side, thus gaining a stepmother. Gender differences can also be found in the association between family type and emotional as well as educational well-being, with girls showing slightly more adverse outcomes than boys. Children of both sexes do however show lower well-being and school outcomes in post-separation family types than in original two-parent families. Like previous international stepfamily literature the results show that Swedish children in stepfamilies and blended families experience adverse emotional and educational outcomes but that the differences are generally small. The main contrast to previous, mostly American, studies are the lack of socioeconomic differences in stepfamily formation and that adverse emotional outcomes in single parent families as well as stepfamilies seem to be mainly explained by differences in parenting and the parent-child relationship rather than economic deprivation. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper3: Manuscript.</p> / Familjestruktur, ekonomiska resurser och barns levnadsvillkor

Research on stepfamily life in the 21st century reveals unexplored variables at every turn. This is important because around half of American adults report close step-relationships and the challenges and demographic and relational differences for different types of stepfamilies remains unexplored. The first of these studies explored data for 879 husbands and wives couples to explore how positivity, negativity, and sexual interest levels differ depending which of the couple, both partners, or neither had previous children. Wives reported higher levels of marital instability and positivity than husbands. Marital instability was linked with one’s own and one’s partners’ negativity, and inversely related to one’s own and one’s partners’ positivity and sexual interest. The marital instability of those with children was related with their partner’s negativity. The second study investigated how the marital stability of different stepfamily configurations is related to difficulties associated with the social and family dimension, the role of the spouse, the role of a parent, and the role of a stepparent. Wives’ scores of marital instability and difficulties being a parent and stepparent were higher than husbands’ across remarriage types. Stepmothers reported the highest levels of parenting and stepparenting strain, especially stepmothers without children of their own. This implies stepfamily challenges can impact family-related stress and marital instability, with the most profound effects found for stepmothers with no biological children of their own. We found that parents with children seem to be sensitive to negativity and sexual interest from their partners as a measure of relationship functioning. Stepmothers experienced higher levels of marital instability and difficulties associated with being a parent and a stepparent and this is especially true for stepmothers who did not have children of their own. These findings suggest couples may benefit from strategies that decrease negativity, increase positivity and sexual interest, and help manage the stresses associated with being a parent and stepparent, especially for stepmothers

Family is an integral part of the fabric of society with diverse configurations of people living together, related through blood or kinship. Changes to the Canadian political and legal structures granting access to marriage have affirmed the rights of gays and lesbians, yet many remain positioned on the margins of society. This grounded theory study illuminates the experiences of women with children who meet and fall in love with another woman. An intricate series of events is set in motion towards development, and ultimately, affirmation of a new lesbian headed stepfamily that addresses the central problem of family legitimacy. The theory of authenticating family demonstrates how women and their children incorporate another woman into their lives, maintaining and protecting the legitimacy of the new family structure. Transitions from being a heterosexual and/or single parented family to a lesbian headed stepfamily create multiple opportunities for challenges to their sense of legitimacy. The new stepfamily faces marginalization, stigmatization and heteronormative assumptions that contest the sense of legitimacy for all family members. Lesbian headed stepfamilies have few role models to provide guidance for behavioural expectations. These families learn from multiple interactions among themselves and with outsiders about how to negotiate a new understanding of family. They develop the ability to demonstrate pride to a society that has marginalized in the past, even as society is evolving in acceptance of multiple and diverse family configurations. There are three stages in authenticating family: (a) accepting the challenge, a process of realizing an intimate attraction to another woman, coming to terms with the significance of pursuing a relationship, and finding balance between many potential obstacles; (b) building the bonds, takes families through the process of getting to know each other, creating relationships, and understanding how dynamics among the family have shifted. While the process of authenticating family remains primarily within the confines of the family home, members begin to look beyond their family in anticipating interactions with outsiders; and (c) thriving, the final process includes solidifying and reclaiming legitimacy while juggling relationships within the home and countering the impact of continuous interactions with society at large.

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This study examined stepcouple relationships through the framework of attachment injury. Specifically, this inquiry explored whether or not individuals who are part of a stepcouple describe relational experiences that are similar to the patterns of attachment injury; and if so, whether or not these experiences are directly attributable to stepfamily formation and maintenance. Attachment theory and existing research regarding both attachment injury and stepfamily formation contributed to the development of core interview questions. Using a multiple-case qualitative research design, interviews were conducted with five women who were both biological and stepmothers in a stepcouple relationship. The pattern matching method of data analysis was used to explore for markers of attachment injury in the stepcouple relationships. The context of the women's stories, as well as direct questions, enabled consideration of the attribution of the attachment injury markers to stepfamily formation. The respondents in this study described experiences that matched the patterns of attachment injury. In each case, at least some of the markers for attachment injury were directly attributable to the relationship difficulties these women encountered in forming and maintaining their stepfamily. Patterns of attachment injury were identified that would not have occurred had the respondents not been part of a stepcouple. These findings hold implications for continued exploration of stepcouples and the mitigation of stepfamily problems through the theoretical framework of attachment and attachment injury. / Master of Science

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 thesis describes a program of research which aimed to identify the extent to which couple and stepfamily variables were associated with couple relationship adjustment and stability in stepfamily couples. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 consisted of 63 stepfamily couples who were in a committed relationship (married or cohabiting) and who had earlier taken part in an intervention program. It was hypothesised that positive couple relationship outcomes could be predicted by low couple aggression, high couple negativity, low couple withdrawal, high parenting disagreement, and high dysfunctional parenting over a 5-year period. The results did not support the hypotheses possibly due to low power in the design. In Study 2, 122 stepfamily couples who been living together (married or cohabiting) as a stepfamily were assessed on couple and stepfamily factors, and these were tested for their association with couple relationship adjustment and stability, using both self-report questionnaires and interview data. As predicted, stepfamily factors accounted for variance in couple stability above that accounted for by couple factors. Furthermore, stepfamily factors were associated with couple stability independent of couple adjustment. The influence of stepfamily couple relationship adjustment and stability seem distinctive from first-marriage couples. It was concluded that stepfamily relationship education programs for stepfamilies should address the unique needs of stepfamilies such as parenting education for inexperienced stepparents, the development of positive stepparent-stepchild relationships, and the building of stepfamily cohesion.

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.

Twenty-two African American lesbians were interviewed in order to identify and examine the intersection of individual and family processes that African American lesbian couples engage in as a family with members of their families of origin. A qualitative research design based on grounded theory methods was used. Data were interpreted using an integrative framework of postmodern feminism, Black feminism, and symbolic interactionism. Findings revealed three major themes: a) Black lesbian couples go through a coming out process as a couple and as individuals, at times, simultaneously; b) Black lesbian families establish and enforce boundaries to protect their intentional, co-created families, and this boundary definition shapes lesbian family identity, and c) resources accessible from informal social supports by African American lesbian families are different from the types of social support and resources available to Black lesbian individuals. These findings provide valuable insights into lesbian family processes that can assist family studies, feminist scholars, family therapists, and community practitioners in identifying future research directions and clinical practices appropriate for African American lesbian families. / Ph. D.