Single-Parent Families with adolescents: structure, functioning and relationships

The aim of this research is to examine the link between the structure and the functioning of separated single-parent families with adolescents and a “cognitive aspect” of the adjustment : the Adolescent Perception of Family Boundary Ambiguity (APFBA). A questionnaire in two versions was administered to 107 single-parent families (214 subjects). The results show that the considered structural aspects (sex, age of adolescents and length of time of separation) don’t have a significant influence on APFBA, while there is a link between APFBA and the type of functioning between the ex-partners. We can further hypothesise that the “ideal” relationship between ex-partners would have to be based on the “right distance” not exceeding the two extremes (too close or too distant)