Factors important to stepfamily success: A grounded theory approach

The purpose of this study was to determine factors important for stepfamily success. In 1991 there were 4.3 million stepfamilies in the United States representing 17.4% of all married-couple families with children. According to Glick (1989), stepfamilies will become the most common family structure by the year 2000. It is imperative, then, that researchers begin looking at ways in which these reconstituted family units can be strengthened. The researcher interviewed fifty-eight (58) adults in stepfamily units. Twenty-nine (29) individuals were interviewed at two Stepfamily Association of America conferences. Twenty-nine (29) individuals were interviewed in the Northeast Nebraska area. Thirty-one (31) women and twenty-seven (27) men participated in this study. The subjects were asked open-ended questions about their perceptions of factors important to stepfamily success. Grounded theory procedures and techniques were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that six factors were important to stepfamily success: (1) co-parenting between the former spouses and between the currently married couple in the stepfamily; (2) balancing the conjugal dyad with the parent-child dyadic relationships within the stepfamily; (3) emotional healing of individuals in the binuclear family; (4) appropriate communication between all members of the stepfamily; (5) spending time together as a family and allowing time to develop as a family unit; and (6) commitment to the stepfamily and to the stepfamily marriage. In addition, custodial stepmothers were found to be more protective of the couple relationship than other adult members in the reconstituted family, noncustodial biological fathers desired more co-parenting within the binuclear family, and individuals involved in stepfamily social support groups believed that these groups were important to stepfamily success. Results of the study should be useful to researchers and clinicians in understanding more fully how members of stepfamilies interact, function, and develop to make stronger and healthier stepfamily units