Fatherhood in Complex Families: Ties between Adult Children, Biological Fathers, and Stepfathers

Hornstra, Maaike; Kalmijn, Matthijs; Ivanova, Katya

doi:10.1111/jomf.12679

Cited by 25 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Becoming a stepparent opens up the possibility of treating stepchildren like their own – much like in the case of adoption except that nonresidential, biological parents may be part of the family system. Similarly, children experience the reverse process of having to develop an attachment to their stepparents that resembles feelings and obligations that they may have (or not) for a biological parent (Hornstra et al, 2020). The parent/child bond is not ascribed at birth; it must be achieved by actions and behaviors (Sanner & Coleman, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Note that by using the descriptive terms simple and complex, we do not imply any value judgment. By complex, we simply mean structures that are more elaborate in that they involve a larger array of different types of kinship ties, in a spirit similar to, for instance, Hornstra, Kalmijn, and Ivanova (2020).…”

Section: Family Formation Processes Leading To Alternative Family Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies

Furstenberg

Harris

Pesando

et al. 2020

J of Marriage and Family

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This article discusses how kinship is construed and enacted in diverse forms of the family that are now part of the culturally pluralistic family system of Western societies. Background: This study is the second in a pair documenting changes over the past century in the meaning and practice of kinship in the family system of Western societies with industrialized economies. While the first paper reviewed the history of kinship studies, this companion piece shifts the focus to research explorations of kinship in alternative family forms, those that depart from the standard nuclear family structure.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Family Formation Processes Leading To Alternative Family Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies

Furstenberg

Harris

Pesando

et al. 2020

J of Marriage and Family

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show abstract

“…In contemporary societies, stepfathers have shown to compensate for the absence of a biological parent by providing educational and socioeconomic stability (Erola & Jalovaara, 2017). Furthermore, relationships with stepfathers can continue into adulthood, and stepfathers might support their stepchildren even after they have left their childhood home (Hornstra et al, 2020;Klaus et al, 2012).…”

Section: Step-paternal Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a study of New Mexican (US) men found no significant effect of co-residence duration on step-paternal investment on financial support . In the Netherlands, Hornstra et al (2020) found that the longer the stepfather co-resided with the child in childhood, the closer the adult tie was, and there was more contact later in the child's life. While these studies correlated the duration of the relationship between stepfathers and stepchildren as a proximate mechanism for paternal investment, their limitation is that they did not test whether childhood co-residence duration differed between stepfathers and biological fathers.…”

Section: Step-paternal Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, several studies have been conducted considering sibling altruism from a kin detection perspective (e.g., Bressan & Zucchi, 2009;Sznycer et al, 2016); however, intergenerational studies considering the association between co-residence duration and kin investment have been scarce (see Anderson, Kaplan, Lam, et al, 1999;Hornstra et al, 2020). In this study, we investigated how duration of childhood co-residence between a child and a (step)father is associated with the investment of (step)fathers, and whether biological and stepfathers differ in their investment, in present day Germany.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kin recognition and step-paternal investment: the effect of childhood co-residence duration

pettay¹,

Danielsbacka²,

Helle³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Evolutionarily relevant nepotistic kin investment requires reliable kin detection. Evolutionary scholars have argued that childhood co-residence is one of the most important indirect cues for kinship. While childhood co-residence duration has been found to correlate with kin investment in intragenerational studies (i.e., among siblings), intergenerational investigations considering the association between childhood co-residence duration and kin investment have been scarce. Here, we investigate whether the investment of biological and stepfathers is correlated with childhood co-residence duration. We used data from adolescents and adults (aged 17–19, 27–29, and 37–39 years) from the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (Pairfam), wave 2, collected in 2010–2011. Paternal investment was measured as financial and practical help, emotional support, intimacy, and emotional closeness. We found that while stepfathers invested less than biological fathers, both biological and stepfathers’ investments increased with increased childhood co-residence duration in most measures. Financial help correlated with childhood co-residence in stepfathers but not in biological fathers who helped financially more than stepfathers regardless of childhood co-residence duration. Emotional support, intimacy, and emotional closeness were correlated with childhood co-residence in both biological fathers and stepfathers. Practical help did not correlate with co-residence in either father. Thus, our results partially support the hypothesis that childhood co-residence duration serves as a kin detection cue and directs intergenerational altruism.

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Heterogeneous Effects of Family Complexity in Childhood on Mental Health: Testing the “Good Divorce” and the “Good Stepparent” Hypotheses

Ivanova

Kalmijn

2020

Life Course Research and Social Policies

Self Cite

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We address two key research questions. First, is there an association between parental separation and living with a stepparent in childhood and maladjustment in adulthood? Second, we examine the role conflict plays in these associations. We study whether parental union dissolution is only detrimental in cases of heightened post-divorce interparental conflict. We build upon this “good divorce” hypothesis by considering whether the possible association between living in a stepfamily and depressive symptomatology is only present in cases of high stepparent-child conflict (a “good stepparent” hypothesis). Using data from the OKiN survey (Parents and Children in the Netherlands), we analyze the self-reported depressive feelings of Dutch adults aged 25–35. Of our sample, 2233 adults experienced parental separation in childhood (on average, 22 years before data collection); of those, n = 1665 had lived with a stepparent. Our findings clearly indicate that having experienced parental divorce is associated with an increase in depressive symptoms only for those adults who were exposed to heightened post-divorce interparental conflict. Similarly, living with a stepparent is linked to maladjustment only in cases of high stepparent-child conflict. Importantly, we find evidence that a low-conflict stepfather-child tie could even buffer against maladjustment (which is not the case for a low-conflict stepmother-child tie).

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Fatherhood in Complex Families: Ties between Adult Children, Biological Fathers, and Stepfathers

Cited by 25 publications

References 32 publications

Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies

Kinship Practices Among Alternative Family Forms in Western Industrialized Societies

Kin recognition and step-paternal investment: the effect of childhood co-residence duration

Heterogeneous Effects of Family Complexity in Childhood on Mental Health: Testing the “Good Divorce” and the “Good Stepparent” Hypotheses

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