Marilyn Coleman

Stepchildren's Perceptions of Their Parents

Abstract In this study, attitudes of adolescent stepchildren toward their parents were examined. Questions used by Bowerman and Irish (1962) were included to determine if there had been changes in stepparent-child relations, given the social and demographic shifts of the past two to three decades. Conclusions were that (a) there are few differences in how stepsons and stepdaughters perceive their relationships to their stepparents; (b) the stepdaughter-stepfather relationship appears to be less emotionally close than other stepparent-child dyads; (c) stepchildren do not feel more distant from stepmothers than stepfathers; (d) in general, stepchildren perceive themselves to be at least moderately close to their stepparents; and (e) length of time residing in a stepfamily household and cause of dissolution of previous family does not affect stepparent-child closeness. The results are discussed in light of common approaches to stepfamily research, and implications for future research are drawn.