Conflict in Remarriages

This paper uses interview data from a study of 232 remarried and 102 first married couples to test hypotheses about the sources and consequences of conflict in remarriages. The hypotheses are suggested by an analysis of the sources of difficulty in families having prior marriage children. Support was found for hypothese predicting elevated conflict over financial issues, child rearing, and presence of husband's prior marriage children. The hypotheses that remarried husbands would give in more often than those first married, when there was a spousal disagreement, was also substantiated.     

Dementia Caregiving in the Context of Late‐Life Remarriage: Support Networks,Relationship Quality,and Well‐being

Caregiving research has not accounted for increasingly diverse and complex marital and family histories of older Americans. The authors examined social relations and care‐specific positive and negative support networks among late‐life remarried wife dementia caregivers (N = 61) to determine associations among network structure, relationship quality with and support received from network members, and global assessments of family and stepfamily disagreement on caregiver well‐being. Own family and friends predominated in the social relations and positive networks. Although over half (54%) of respondents included a stepfamily member in their positive networks, stepchildren comprised the largest group (35%) in the negative networks. Larger negative networks and actively negative interactions were related to greater caregiver burden, and more global disagreement with stepfamily was associated with greater depression and burden. The findings illustrate the complex nature of support and the value of targeted examinations of caregiving support dynamics among late‐life remarried older adults and stepfamilies facing health demands.     

Attitudes Toward Divorce,Commitment, and Divorce Proneness in First Marriages and Remarriages

A random multistate sample of married individuals (N = 1,931) was used to explore whether more positive attitudes toward divorce and weaker commitment to marriage may contribute to the greater instability of remarriages than first marriages. Remarried adults, whether or not they brought children from a previous union into the remarriage, reported marital quality (happiness and conflict) equal to those in first marriages. They also reported more positive attitudes toward divorce, which were associated with higher divorce proneness (i.e., thinking about and taking actions toward divorce). Marriage type interacted with marital quality to predict divorce proneness, such that the association between low marital quality and divorce proneness was stronger for remarried individuals than for those in first marriages. This suggests that remarried adults may be more likely than adults in first marriages to take steps toward divorce when experiencing marital distress, possibly reflecting a weaker commitment to marriage.     

Improving Functioning of the Remarried Family System

This report presents salient issues for therapists in understanding and treating the remarried (Rem, second, blended, reconstituted or step) family. The structure of the remarried family is differentiated from that of the intact family. Specific treatment goals for Rem families are elaborated and various treatment modalities advocated. The need to include former spouses and to consider the meta family system are discussed. Common reactions and difficulties engendered in therapists when working with Rem systems are explicated.     

The Impact of Parental Remarriage on Children

Abstract

A meta-analysis of 61 studies was undertaken to determine the impact of parental remarriage on the academic achievement and psychological well-being of children, of which the vast majority were adolescents. Separate analyses were done on studies that did and did not use sophisticated controls in their analyses. Comparisons were made between children from remarried versus intact families as well as children from remarried and divorced or widowed single-parent families. Children from remarried family structures achieved academic levels that were generally more than two-tenths of a standard deviation lower than children from intact families. Children from remarried families also achieved somewhat lower levels than children from corresponding single-parent family structures. The difference between children from remarried families and children from intact families was nearly two- tenths of a standard deviation for measures of psychological well-being, for studies that did not use sophisticated controls and was somewhat less for studies that did use sophisticated controls. The significance of these results is discussed, doi: 10.1300/J002v40n04_05     

Conflict Patterns and Family of Origin Conflict in Newly Initiated Remarriages

ABSTRACT

The poor marriage material hypothesis explains the high divorce rate in remarriages as a function of the qualities of people who have previously been divorced. This study sought to test whether conflict in the family of origin and in the present marriage could substantiate the poor marriage material hypothesis by discriminating between couples in their first marriage versus those in a marriage with a history of divorce. A sample of 66 newlywed married couples, half in first marriages and half in remarriages, were recruited through marriage licenses and student referrals. Family of origin conflict discriminated between first and remarried couples. Namely, wives' exposure to interparental conflict significantly increased the odds that they were presently married to a husband who had previously been divorced. Differences between first and remarried couples' own conflict patterns were largely unremarkable with the exception of remarried couples seeing their partners as being more compliant and unassertive relative to those in first marriages.     

Family Types, Direct Money Transfers from Parents, and School Enrollment among Youths

Intrafamily resource transfers have not been studied extensively as a process that may help reduce the well-being disadvantage of stepchildren in parental remarriages relative to biological children in parental first marriages. The process is examined here by analyzing the link between direct parental money transfers and academic outcomes, as measured by enrollment. I develop and test two alternative hypotheses pertaining to a part of this link, which distinctly applies to children of remarried stepfamilies--the component not shared with children in intact families. An adaptive strategy hypothesis posits a well-being enhancing distinct component, operationalized as a positive interaction effect between measures of parental transfers × stepchildren in parental remarriages. A compromised use hypothesis posits a well-being compromising one, implying a negative interaction effect. Two sets of results from analyzing data on 18-21 year olds over multiple years (Nyouth-age=5,736, Nperson=3,615) in the first five waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) support the adaptive strategy hypothesis: a) the interaction effect (income received from parents × being a stepchild in a parental remarriage) has a positive sign; and b) this interaction effect is consistently positive, whether the youth is at risk of attending high school or college, even when the direction of the shared component of the link, as measured by the main effect of income from parents, varies by the level of schooling. The results suggest the presence of a robust well-being enhancing money transfer mechanism supporting children in some remarried stepparent families.     

Marital Quality in Remarriage: A Review of Methods and Results

Marital quality in remarriages remains an important construct worthy of scientific inquiry—especially considering the rate at which remarriages end in divorce. The purpose of this critical review was to focus on the factors that affect marital quality within the remarried dyad specifically. Special emphasis was placed on the identification of how well authors defined their construct of interest and applied and used an appropriate operational definition, their procedural method, and their findings.     

Divorce and Remarriage in Norway: A Prospective Cohort Study Between 1981 and 2013

ABSTRACT

As the population of divorced adults has increased, the number of remarriages has followed. Previous research has mainly compared first-time marriages with remarriages, whereas this study analyzes 4 different constellations of marriages: first time for both spouses, first time for one and second time for the other, second time for both, and third time or more for at least one member of the couple. The analyses are based on data from all Norwegian 2-sex marriages formed from 1981 to 2013, for a total of more than 770,000 marriages. The findings indicate that remarried couples are considerably more prone to divorce compared to couples married for the first time, particularly marriages in which both partners are remarried and marriages in which at least one of the partners is married for the third time or more. The differences between the various groups of marriages decline with a longer duration of the marriage.     

Strengths of Remarried Families

This paper focuses on remarried families' perceptions of their family strengths, marital satisfaction and their adjustment to the remarried situation. The sample was composed of both husbands and wives in 80 remarried families where at least one of the marital partners had been previously married. In all cases children were living in the home. Results of the study indicated that although the step-families did not deny they had difficulties and most would like to make some changes in their relationships, their scores on the measurements used in the study were high. Findings are suggestive of the dysfunctionality of continuing to define the remarried family as less desirable than those families who are once-married, for a supportive environment was revealed to be the most important predictor of perceptions of family strength and success among this sample of remarried families.     

Family Types,Direct Money Transfers from Parents,and School Enrollment among Youth

Intrafamily resource transfers have not been studied extensively as a process that may help reduce the well-being disadvantage of stepchildren in parental remarriages relative to biological children in parental first marriages. The process is examined here by analyzing the link between direct parental money transfers and academic outcomes, as measured by enrollment. I develop and test two alternative hypotheses pertaining to a part of this link, which distinctly applies to children of remarried stepfamilies—the component not shared with children in intact families. An adaptive strategy hypothesis posits a well-being enhancing distinct component, operationalized as a positive interaction effect between measures of parental transfers × stepchildren in parental remarriages. A compromised use hypothesis posits a well-being compromising one, implying a negative interaction effect. Two sets of results from analyzing data on 18- to 21-year-olds over multiple years (Nyouth-age = 5,736, Nperson = 3,615) in the first five waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 support the adaptive strategy hypothesis: (1) the interaction effect (income received from parents × being a stepchild in a parental remarriage) has a positive sign, and (2) this interaction effect is consistently positive, whether the youth is at risk of attending high school or college, even when the direction of the shared component of the link, as measured by the main effect of income from parents, varies by the level of schooling. The results suggest the presence of a robust well-being enhancing money transfer mechanism supporting children in some remarried stepparent families.     

Strengths of Remarried Families

This paper focuses on remarried families' perceptions of their family strengths, marital satisfaction and their adjustment to the remarried situation. The sample was composed of both husbands and wives in 80 remarried families where at least one of the marital partners had been previously married. In all cases children were living in the home. Results of the study indicated that although the step-families did not deny they had difficulties and most would like to make some changes in their relationships, their scores on the measurements used in the study were high. Findings are suggestive of the dysfunctionality of continuing to define the remarried family as less desirable than those families who are once-married, for a supportive environment was revealed to be the most important predictor of perceptions of family strength and success among this sample of remarried families.     

Parent and Stepparent Support and Psychological Control in Remarried Families and Adolescent Empathic Concern

Abstract

Using a symbolic interaction perspective, this study examined the extent to which (a) perceptions of parent/stepparent support were positively related to adolescent empathic concern and (b) perceptions of parent/stepparent psychological control mediated this relationship. Participants were a convenience sample of 72 ninth and tenth grade adolescents residing in remarried family households who completed self-report questionnaires. Results showed that adolescent girls in remarried family households who perceived their residential parent as more supportive reported greater empathic concern and that the relationship was mediated by perceptions of parent psychological control.     

The Importance of Mother-Child Relations in Studying Stepfamilies

Increasing numbers of children are living in stepfami- lies. The majority of such children are living with their biological moth- ers and a stepfather. When compared to children from nondivorced families they are overrepresented amongst the numbers of children manifesting social,'emotional and behavior problems. Many of the chil- dren report themselves to feel less affection and warmth for their moth- ers than do children from nondivorced families. The author briefly summarizes the major fmdings concerning motherduld relations in stepfalher families. She concludes that although logic would dictate that a solid positive relationship between mother and child might buffer the child against the possible negative effects of a series of important changes in the child's life, this essential factor has rarely been ad- dressed. She argues for the need to conduct more research on mother- child relations and interactions in order to integrate the lindings with other data concerning stepfamilies. This would lead to a better under- standing of stepfamily functioning and its relation to positive and nega- tive outcomes for children in remarried families.     

Where are the children in home–school relations? Notes towards a research agenda

In this article we unpack the assumptions behind the dominant British research, policy and practice home-school relations consensus that holds parents' involvement and participation in their children's education to be unquestionably necessary and beneficial. It presupposes a one-way relationship between parents and children in which children are implicitly placed as dependent and inert recipients of the decisions and activities of parents and teachers. It does not take account of the impacts of the gender of children and their parents, ethnicity, age or family form. We draw on evidence from a diverse range of sources to show that children do have individual and collective interests and priorities in the process of home-school relations, and that gender is particularly important in this. We argue for research on home-school relations that takes an essentially child-centred approach, treating children as competent informants on diverse aspects of parental involvement in their education.     

Cohesion and Adaptability in Post-Divorce Remarried and First Married Families:

Past research indicates that post-divorce remarried families report lower levels of family cohesion and adaptability than do first married families, but differences are not found in the adjustment of children or satisfaction with the marital relationship. The present study examined the possibilities that (a) lower levels of cohesion and adaptability may be optimal for remarried families, (b) cohesion and adaptability may be less important for coping and stress in stepfamilies than in first married families, and (c) patterns of relationships between the two sets of variables may be different for the two family types. A series of analyses relating cohesion and adaptability to family stress and coping styles revealed that high levels of family cohesion and adaptability are equally if not more important for stepfamilies as they are for biological families in reference to family stress and coping.     

Training family therapists to work with children and families: a modified Delphi study

This study examined child inclusion issues and training marriage and family therapists (MFTs) to treat children. This modified Delphi study utilized a panel of experts, and gathered data through questionnaires and qualitative interviews. Panelists believe children should participate in family therapy sessions for both child and adult problems, except when parents are discussing sex or sensitive issues. Child-focused courses should emphasize developmental issues, engaging techniques, theoretical issues, play therapy theory, MFT treatment for child disorders, and specific child/family problems. Panelists suggest numerous child-focused references, but reached consensus for only one. Key therapist attributes and skills were identified. Deductive and inductive training methods and the role of supervision were highlighted. Although therapist playfulness and creativity were emphasized, few play techniques were included in the final profile.     

Marital Satisfaction in Turkish Remarried Families: Marital Status,Stepchildren, and Contributing Factors

This study aimed to compare marital satisfaction among those of different marital status (first-married, postdivorce remarried, and postbereavement remarried) based on gender; to investigate the effect of decision of divorce on marital satisfaction of postdivorce remarried individuals; to examine the effect of type of death on marital satisfaction of postbereavement remarried individuals; and to examine the effect of stepchildren on marital satisfaction of remarried individuals. It was also intended to investigate the predictive power of demographic and contextual variables on marital satisfaction in different households. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale and an information form were administered to 116 first-married and 223 remarried individuals. To test the hypotheses of the study, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed. Results revealed that there was no significant marital satisfaction difference in terms of marital status. Remarried individuals with residential stepchildren had lower marital satisfaction than those with nonresidential stepchildren and those without stepchildren. For first-married individuals, length of marriage and income predicted marital satisfaction. For postdivorce remarried individuals, gender and presence of mutual children were predictors. For postbereavement remarried individuals, length of current marriage and income were significant predictors. For those with stepchildren, only residence of stepchildren significantly predicted marital satisfaction. The findings of the study were discussed in the light of relevant literature.