Stepfamily Effects on Early Home‐Leaving: The Role of Conflict and Closeness

Abstract

Objective This study examined the role of stepfamily experiences on early home‐leaving with detailed measures for stepfamily experiences that capture levels of closeness and conflict, and with a detailed measure for home‐leaving that captures pathways out of the home. Background Young adults raised in stepfamilies leave home and form unions earlier than young adults raised in single‐parent families. Little is known about the reasons for this difference. This study examined two potential explanations—conflict and lack of closeness in the stepparent‐stepchild relationship. Method This study was based on Dutch OKiN data (Ouders en Kinderen in Nederland; Parents and Children in the Netherlands) on 3,566 young adults from separated families. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to estimate effects of stepfamily experiences on different pathways of early home‐leaving. Stepfamily experiences were measured with the level of closeness and conflict in the stepparent‐stepchild relationship. Results The results showed that young adults from stepfamilies were more likely to enter trajectories of both early home‐leaving and early union formation. Yet this effect was limited to those having a distant or conflicted relationship with their stepparent. Conclusion These findings demonstrate the role of the stepparent in the home‐leaving process and the heterogeneity in stepparent effects.

Siblings' similarities and dissimilarities: A review of theoretical perspectives and empirical insights

“…For example, Steinbach and Hank (2018) showed that adult full siblings are emotionally closer, but simultaneously have more conflicts. van den Berg et al (2021) found that children living in stepfamilies are more likely to experience trajectories such as early home leaving and early union formation, in case they have a distant or conflicted stepchild-stepparent relationship. Future research could enrich our insights in the extent to which and how full, half, or nonbiological siblings show comparability in terms of sibling influences.…”

Like brother, like sister? Disentangling the intertwined associations between siblings’ life course trajectories

“…However, while halfand step-siblings are emotionally less close than full-siblings, they also report less sibling conflict and aggression (Sanner et al, 2018;Steinbach & Hank, 2018). Additionally, children living in stepfamilies are more likely to experience trajectories such as early home leaving and early union formation, in case they have a distant or conflicted stepchild-stepparent relationship (van den Berg et al, 2021). Given that modern families, including their sibling composition, are increasingly complex (Sanner et al, 2018), it is highly important to further investigate the potential differences in sibling influence between full-siblings and step-/halfsiblings, taking into account their relationship closeness and length of co-residence.…”