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Effects of Stepfamily Living on Children

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Stepfamily Relationships

Abstract

How are children affected by living in stepfamilies? We compare family structures on academic achievement, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and interpersonal relationships in this chapter. Theoretical explanations for stepfamily effects are reviewed. In general, stepchildren do less well than children in first-marriage nuclear families, but these differences are usually small, and 75–80 % of stepchildren function quite well on developmental outcomes. Theoretical frameworks addressing why stepchildren are at slightly greater risk than children in first marriage families include: (1) stress effects, (2) family process effects, and (3) selection effects.

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  1. University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Lawrence Ganong & Marilyn Coleman

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Ganong, L., Coleman, M. (2017). Effects of Stepfamily Living on Children. In: Stepfamily Relationships. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7702-1_9

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