Research explores stepfamily communication

Fort Worth, TX

12/12/2006

A survey of 586 stepchildren by a communication studies researcher has identified five types of stepfamilies that differ in how they communicate and in the mental health of the children.


'There is a growing consensus among family researchers that communication plays a central role in how well families function," says Paul Schrodt, assistant professor of communication studies at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. "Yet researchers have been challenged to describe the dynamics and configurations of stepfamilies."

The stepchildren Dr. Schrodt surveyed came from four mid-western and southwestern states. They ranged in age from 13 to 55. Nearly 83 percent were white. More than 88 percent reported having divorced parents.  

The respondents rated their stepfamilies on five characteristics: dissension, involvement, avoidance, flexibility and expressiveness. They were also asked questions designed to elicit the level of positive regard and parental authority they ascribed to their stepparent. They were asked questions calculated to show their perceptions of the communication competence of their mother, father, stepparents and themselves. Also they completed a questionnaire on their perceptions of their own mental health symptoms within the last two weeks. Dr. Schrodt"s survey revealed these types of stepfamilies:

Bonded.  These were described by those surveyed as featuring low levels of family dissension and avoidance and high levels of family involvement, flexibility and expressiveness.

Functional.  These had moderately low levels of family dissension and avoidance and scored moderately high in family involvement, flexibility and expressiveness.

Ambivalent.  Respondents in this category reported slightly higher than average levels of dissension and avoidance and slightly below-average levels of involvement, flexibility and expressiveness.  

Evasive.  High levels of family dissension and avoidance and low levels of involvement and flexibility characterize this type, as well as the lowest measured level of family expressiveness.

Conflictual.  They show the highest levels of family dissension, an absence of family unity, and aversion to spending time with each other. Stepchildren in this family type reported the least amount of respect and positive regard for their primary step-parent.  

"All five stepfamily types predict meaningful differences in perceptions of communication behavior among stepchildren," says Dr. Schrodt, whose research was published in the September 2006 issue of Communication Monographs in a paper titled "A Typological Examination of Communication Competence and Mental Health in Stepchildren."

"The results also revealed a small but meaningful and consistent trend in stepchildren"s mental health," says Dr. Schrodt.

Stepchildren in conflictual, evasive and ambivalent stepfamilies reported more mental health symptoms in the previous two weeks than those in bonded and functional stepfamilies. Although the effect was small, Dr. Schrodt says that the finding is meaningful due to the length of time most stepchildren had been members of their stepfamilies -- an average of more than nine years for this survey sample.

Bonded stepfamilies represented 18.3 percent of Dr. Schrodt's survey sample and functional stepfamilies represented 31.4 percent of the total. 

"Although functional stepfamilies appeared to be somewhat less cohesive than bonded stepfamilies overall, children in these stepfamilies reported less dissension and avoidance, and more involvement and expressiveness than the remaining three types."

Stepchildren from bonded step-families, he says, were more likely to think of their primary stepparent as a parent, referring to them as "mom" or "dad" and granting them more authority than in the other four types of stepfamilies.

Ambivalent stepfamilies were 24.1 percent of the total sample.  Stepchildren from these families reported neither overly positive or negative sentiments about their blended families.  

"In essence, what separates (ambivalent) stepfamilies from the other four types is mixed sentiments among the stepchildren toward both their stepfamily as a whole and their primary stepparent," Dr. Schrodt says.

Evasive stepfamilies were 15.7 percent of the total. Their families function less well than the norm due primarily to a lack of open communication coupled with moderately high levels of conflict, tension and avoidance. Conflictual stepfamilies, 10.6 percent of the total, have high levels of discord and strife.

"Interestingly, however, stepchildren from conflictual stepfamilies perceived that their families remained somewhat expressive.  It appears likely that conflictual stepfamilies are perhaps locked in a state of conflict where family members spend most of their time avoiding each other or communicating in ways that perpetuate differences of opinion, discord and strife."

An estimated 12 million U.S. children live in stepfamilies.