Does Family Structure Matter? A Comparison of Adoptive, Two‐Parent Biological, Single‐Mother, Stepfather, and Stepmother Households

Abstract

ࡗ Does Family Structure Matter? A Comparison of Adoptive, Two-Parent Biological, Single-Mother, Stepfather, and Stepmother Households Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we compared quality of family relationships and well-being across five different family structures with a particular focus on adoptive households. Four theoretical perspectives, each emphasizing the importance of different factors in determining relationship quality and wellbeing, guided this work and led us to compare adoptive families with families that include two biological parents, single mothers, stepfathers, and stepmothers. We found the most support for the perspective stressing the importance of family processes that occur in all types of families, rather than family structure. Specifically, there were few family structure differences based on fathers' and children's reports, and structure differences in mothers' reports were no longer significant after Center for Child and Family Policy, Box 90545, Durham, NC 27708-0545 (lansford@pps.duke.edu).

Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?

“…Rather, research suggests that family processes, such as parenting quality and attachment, are more important predictors of child outcomes than is family structure. These associations have been found both in biological and adoptive families, and among families with lesbian, gay parents and heterosexual parents (e.g., Chan et al, 1998;Erich, Kanenberg, Case, Allen, & Bogdanos, 2009;Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey, & Stewart, 2001). These family process variables are likely to emerge as more important than parental sexual orientation to child and parent outcomes in adoptive families with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents, but these issues have not yet been explicitly studied.…”

Socioemotional Development in Changing Families

“…Further evidence for the greater importance of family process over family structure comes from studies that have directly examined the relative contribution of each Demuth & Brown, 2004;Dunn et al, 1998;Farr et al, 2010;Golombok, Mellish, et al, 2013;Hetherington, 1989;Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey, & Stewart, 2001). These studies have shown that it is not family structure per se that influences the socioemotional well-being of children in different family forms.…”

Perceived relationship quality in adolescents following early social-emotional deprivation

“…Conversely, adoptive mothers of non-institutionalized domestic adoptees have reported more disagreements with their adolescents than biological mothers or stepmothers (Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey, & Stewart, 2001). …”