Social Support Received by Children in Stepmother,Stepfather, and Intact Families

This study compared the (step)mother-(step)chiId relationship among college students using social support concepts in three family types: stepmother, stepfather, and intact. As predicted, when compared to the relationship between children and their bio- logical mothers in other family types, children in stepmother fami- lies perceived less relationship quality, less support and more con- flict with their stepmother. However, children in stepmother families did not perceive more overall family conflict or less family cohesion than children in the other family types. Similarly, children in the stepmother families were no less satisfied with the overall social support they received from their entire social network than children in the other family types.