Different Challenges, Different Well-Being: A Comparison of Psychological Well-Being Across Stepmothers and Biological Mothers and Across Four Categories of Stepmothers

Doodson, Lisa; Davies, Alastair P. C.

doi:10.1080/10502556.2013.862094

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The present study addresses this gap by illuminating a source of ambivalence that occurs much earlier in the stepfamily adjustment process. In doing so, it sheds light on a possible explanation for why the development of positive stepmother–stepchild ties sometimes may be difficult (Doodson & Davies, ; MacDonald & DeMaris, ; Santrock & Sitterle, ; Schmeeckle, ). The relationships that stepmothers subsequently develop with stepchildren, as well as ensuing levels of personal well‐being, may be influenced by the silent struggle they experience in coping with the loss or adjustment of personal images and ideals of creating a family.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Re)constructing Family Images: Stepmotherhood Before Biological Motherhood

Sanner

Coleman

2017

J of Marriage and Family

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Strong cultural values and ideals attached to women in families deem the role of stepmother as inferior to that of biological mother. Although biological motherhood is celebrated, stepmotherhood is stigmatized, and women who wish to become mothers but become stepmothers prior to having biological children may grieve the loss of images surrounding normative ideals of creating a family. Using a feminist family science approach, the purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the experiences of women without children in their transition to stepmotherhood. Interviews with 23 stepmothers (aged 26–47) revealed that women engaged in an internal process of creating and then adjusting personal images of family life to accommodate their new family circumstances. The process of (re)constructing family images had implications for later adjustment to stepmotherhood. Notions of the motherhood hierarchy emerged to depict the unique experiences of women who became stepmothers prior to having biological children.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Re)constructing Family Images: Stepmotherhood Before Biological Motherhood

Sanner

Coleman

2017

J of Marriage and Family

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“…The limited earlier work on the adjustment of parents other than biological has rather consistently focused on stepfathers' and stepmothers' experiences and has suggested that the stepparent status is associated with lower well-being (e.g., Doodson and Davies 2014;Pace and Shafer 2015). It should be noted here that an exception to this pattern is a study by Pudrovska (2009) where later life adjustment was not found to be compromised by stepparenthood.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…can be linked to higher depressive symptomology (Shafer and Pace 2015). Additionally, a lot of what we currently know about the repercussions of parenting for adults, stems from studies on the gender differences in the challenges which these roles pose during the years when the parents are still living together with at least some of their children (e.g., Doodson and Davies 2014;Pace and Shafer 2015;Stewart 2005). Yet, assuming long term continuity in the documented early disadvantages in well-being among parents of children other than biological from current partner might be unwarranted, given studies which have shown that life events result in short-term fluctuations and eventual adaptation in individual well-being (Brickman and Campbell 1971;Clark 2018;Larsen 2000;Lykken and Tellegen 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

My Children, Your Children, Our Children, and My Well-Being: Life Satisfaction of “Empty Nest” Biological Parents and Stepparents

Ivanova

2019

J Happiness Stud

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Studies on the association between parenthood and subjective well-being (SWB) have largely ignored the growing population of adults who experience more complex types of parenthood such as stepparenthood and multipartner fertility. We utilize the 'Parents and Children in the Netherlands' survey (OKiN) to study the association between different parenting roles and life satisfaction, a key component of SWB. We focus on the adjustment of parents in later life, rather than at the moment when they are living with dependent (step)children. The analytical sample was 6130 empty nest parents with a partner (10.9% reported having only stepchildren). The final linear regression models, accounted for individual selection into parenting status (e.g., educational attainment), characteristics of current partnership (e.g., trust in partner), and quality of intergenerational ties (i.e., average closeness with all (step)children). We find that once those variables were included in the models, no negative associations were found between any type of parenthood and life satisfaction. Interestingly, we find that quality of intergenerational ties acts as a suppressor; once accounted for, we find that (1) stepmothers report significantly and even substantially higher life satisfaction than mothers with only biological children with current partner; and (2) that fathers with only biological children from an ex-partner report higher life satisfaction than fathers with only biological children with current partner. Therefore, we argue that in order to better understand the predictive validity of type of parenthood for individual well-being, the quality of the intergenerational climate has to be considered.

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“…This in turn has been associated with high levels of stress and maternal depression (Doodson and Davies, 2014). In addition, in most cases, stepparent relationships are formed without the benefit of legal standing (eg, Hetherington and Stanley-Hagan, 2002;Weaver and Coleman, 2005).…”

Section: Stepmothers In Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stepmothers in narratives: negotiations on relatedness

Murtorinne-Lahtinen

Jokinen

2018

Families, Relationships and Societies

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This study contributes to the existing stepmother research by focusing on interaction as an aspect of stepmother identity construction. Accordingly, identity is seen as negotiated through interaction with other family members. A narrative approach applied to 58 stories written by Finnish stepmothers yielded three identity types: identity restricted by a biological mother, stepmother-centred identity, and team parenthood identity. The most dominant feature, common to all the stories, was that stepmothers perceived themselves primarily in relation to the children’s biological mothers, a stance that often led them to feel threatened. Stepmother identity construction appeared to be problematic in many respects, and thus required reflection and negotiation. However, this did not resolve the above-mentioned issues. The present findings indicated that fathers might be placed in a unique role in the father, mother and stepmother triangle.

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Different Challenges, Different Well-Being: A Comparison of Psychological Well-Being Across Stepmothers and Biological Mothers and Across Four Categories of Stepmothers

Cited by 17 publications

References 46 publications

(Re)constructing Family Images: Stepmotherhood Before Biological Motherhood

(Re)constructing Family Images: Stepmotherhood Before Biological Motherhood

My Children, Your Children, Our Children, and My Well-Being: Life Satisfaction of “Empty Nest” Biological Parents and Stepparents

Stepmothers in narratives: negotiations on relatedness

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