… stepfather affinity-seeking—less conflict with stepchildren, better couple relationships, and
closer stepfamily … for encouraging stepparents to focus on building affinity with stepchildren. …

… strongly associated with stepfamily functioning than stepparent–stepchild relationship quality,
… We focus on three dimensions of stepfamily functioning: stepfamily cohesion, stepfamily …

… Almost no research has addressed the nature of the functioning of the whole family unit in
stepfamilies or the relationship between the stepfather and his stepchildren. Information is not …

… , cohesion), we identified 4 general types of stepfamilies in these investigations: close …
between at least some stepfamily members, usually the stepparent and stepchild, but not always …

… This lack of openness is due, we contend, to lingering stigma associated with being a
stepparent or stepchild (we discuss this at length later in this book). This stigma encourages some …

… systems in stepfamilies. The relationship between stepchildren and the stepparent has
thus been shown to be cardinal for the quality of the new parent–stepparent relationship (Bray …

… a lack of belonging, cohesiveness and unity with the stepfamily. Themes that emerged from
… had value to stepparents but not necessarily to stepchildren; (f) the loss of a stepparent’s …

… well-being by creating cohesive stepfamily dynamics and modifying expectations. … –stepparent
coparenting subsystems are forming while stepparents and stepchildren and stepparents …

… stepchildren (56% female, mean age = 11.3 years), the current study examines the association
between the relationship quality of three central stepfamily dyads (stepparent–… cohesion …

… stepparent-stepchild relationships, the frequency of visits from nonresident parents, and child
outcomes in four structural types of stepfamilies… development of a cohesive stepfamily, and …