DO ADULTS IN STEPFAMILIES HAVE WORSE HEALTH? Paul Boyle, Zhiqiang Feng, Vernon Gayle, Elspeth Graham, Ali Zohoor.

DO ADULTS IN STEPFAMILIES HAVE WORSE HEALTH?

Paul Boyle, Zhiqiang Feng, Vernon Gayle, Elspeth Graham, Ali Zohoor

Background

The ‘second demographic transition’ (van de Kaa 1987)

Fewer and later marriages, rising rates of cohabitation, divorce and lone parenthood, and later childbirth

One outcome is a growing number of stepfamilies where a parent, whether single, separated, widowed or divorced, forms a new marriage or partnership

Despite the rising incidence of stepfamilies researchers have been slow to acknowledge the importance of such families (Ferri and Smith 1998)

Of those marrying during the 1990s, nearly 50% will end up divorced (Allan 1999)

Haskey (1994) shows that 12% of British children will live in a stepfamily before their sixteenth birthday

About 40% of mothers will experience being a lone parent and about 75% of lone mothers will go on to form a stepfamily (Ermisch and Francesconi 2000)

Nearly 90% of stepfamilies involve children living with their mother and a new male partner (Finch 2002)

Stepfamilies include more and older children than first families (Haskey 1994)

The greater complexity of intra-household relationships in stepfamilies provides scope for tensions to arise and, perhaps, increases the potential for negative health impacts (Kelley 1995)

Numerous studies highlight the strains that every-day life in stepfamilies may entail and the effects on stepchildren’s health and well-being (Zeppa and Norem 1993; Pryor and Rodgers 2001)

Stepchildren experience the breakdown of their parent’s relationship, may feel neglected by the biological parent, and may have to divide their time between two homes

Most studies of the effects of remarriage on children fail to show a benefit, despite the financial advantages that usually result (Fergusson et al. 1994; Pagani et al. 1998; Walper 1995; Duncan and Hoffman 1985; Zill 1988)

Various negative outcomes for stepchildren• Perform worse at school (Pong 1997)• More at risk for behavioural and developmental

problems (Wadsworth et al. 1985)• Higher risk of drinking alcohol, drug abuse and

problem behaviour (del Carmen et al. 2002) Some studies dispute some of the negative

impacts on stepchildren (McMunn et al. 2001)

But, the majority of quantitative studies suggest that stepchildren are at greater risk of a range of problems (Ram and Hou 2003)

Considerable literature on the effects of family arrangements and marital status on adult health• Higher mortality rates among the unmarried, those

who live alone and the divorced (Trovato and Lauris 1989)

• More depressive symptoms are apparent among the recently separated (Neff and Schluter 1993)

• In some studies, the beneficial effects of marriage are found for men but not women (Berkman and Syme 1979)

• Lone parents suffer higher levels of mental distress than other parents (Keirnan and Mueller 1998)

Very few studies examining explicitly the effects of living in a stepfamily on stepparents’ and their partner’s health

Stepparents’ experience is potentially stressful• Relationship with stepchildren may be difficult

– may be resistant to new additions to the family

• The relationship between the mother/father and children often deeply established

• The stepparent may feel jealous of the time their partner devotes to her/his children

• Described as ‘polite strangers’ in the lives of partner’s children (Ganong and Coleman 2004)

Partners of stepparents (usually women) may also find things stressful• The mother is responsible for bringing the family

together• Axis around which the family revolves – devoted

to ‘making it better for everyone’ (Horwitz 2001)• Conflict that arises from their love for their

children and their new spouse• Some feel guilt because they are ‘betraying’

their children by remarrying (Papernow 1993)• Caught between children’s need for stability and

stepparent’s needs for change• May experience problems with previous partner

Hypotheses

1. Stepparents have worse mental health outcomes than biological parents in first families

2. The partners of stepparents have worse mental health outcomes than biological parents in first families

3. The presence of a child born to both parents reduces the likelihood of poor mental health outcomes for both partners in stepfamilies

Defining stepfamilies

Jacobsen (1995)Home-based family Visiting family

1. Mother2. Mother & stepfather3. Mother & stepfather4. Father5. Father & stepmother6. Father & stepmother

1. Father & stepmother2. Father & stepmother3. Father4. Mother &

stepmother5. Mother &

stepmother6. Mother

Clingempeel (1987) Pasley (1982)

1. Remarried2. Nonresidential

stepmother3. Residential

stepmother4. Nonresidential

stepfather5. Residential stepfather6. Nonresidential

stepparent7. Residential

stepparent8. Mixed stepparent

(stepmother)9. Mixed stepparent

(stepfather)

1. No children2. Children of this marriage

only3. Residential children from

prior marriage only4. Nonresidential children

from prior marriage only5. Adult children only6. Residential children from

prior and this marriage7. Nonresidential children

from prior and children from this marriage

8. Nonresidential and residential children from prior marriage

9. Nonresidential and residential children from prior marriage and children from this marriage

General Household Survey data

Annual cross-sectional British survey (since 1971)

Large representative sample of ~13,000 households

Individual, family and household information provided, including household grid

Merged data from 2001-02 to 2004-05 Focus on parents aged 16-59

GHS sample (parents)

1. First family with children2. First family without children3. Lone parent4. Stepparent with prior children5. Stepparent without prior children6. Stepparent with prior children & common children7. Stepparent without prior children & common children8. Partner with prior children9. Partner without prior children10. Partner with prior children & common children11. Partner without prior children & common children12. Both stepparents with or without prior children13. Both stepparents with prior children & common

children14. Both stepparents without prior children & common

childrenNote, ‘without’ children means children are not resident in household

GHS sample (parents) Cases

1. First family 2. Lone parent3. Stepparent without common children4. Stepparent with common children5. Partner without common children6. Partner with common children7. Both stepparents without common

children8. Both stepparents with common

children

Total

17,986 2,717 689 466 664 470 33 158

23,183

Note, ‘without’ children means children are not resident in household

Other variables Categories

Illness (y)General health

(y)

Age groupSexEconomic activityQualificationsIncomeEthnicitySmokingDrinking

Long-standing illness or disability (1); None (0)

Not good (1); Good/fairly good (0)

16-24; 25-29; 30-44; 45+Male; FemaleFull-time; Part-time; Unemployed; Retired;

OtherHigher; Other; NoneQuintiles (equivalised net family weekly

income)White; Mixed; Asian; Black; Chinese &

OtherNot smoke; Smoke; Don’t knowNot/little drinking; Heavy drinking

Variables Categories Illness(n=21,423)

General health(n=21,419)

Constant Age group

SexEconomic activity

Qualifications

Income

Ethnicity

Smoking

Drinking

25-2930-4445+FemalePart-timeUnemployedRetiredOtherOther, not higherNoneQuintile 2 (low)Quintile 3Quintile 4Quintile 5 (high)Not reportedMixedAsianBlackChinese & OtherSmokeDon’t knowHeavy

-1.77* 0.25*0.52*1.17*-0.31*0.16*0.67*0.95*0.58*0.08*0.13*-0.00-0.08-0.16*-0.34*-0.23*-0.20-0.23*-0.33*-0.220.14*0.260.16*

-3.61*0.37*0.72*1.28*-0.22*0.27*0.82*1.53*1.04*0.110.33*-0.04-0.17*-0.39*-0.72*-0.12-0.070.34*0.020.190.36*2.450.31*

Variables Categories Illness General health

Family group

Lone parentStepparent without common childrenStepparent with common childrenPartner without common childrenPartner with common childrenBoth stepparents without common

childrenBoth stepparents with common

children

0.14*0.010.060.42*0.08-0.18-0.22

0.16*0.15-0.040.39*0.08-0.460.09

Odds ratios: ill health

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

First

Lone

Step

Step+

own

Part

Part+

ownSte

p2

Step2

+own

Od

ds

ra

tio

s

Odds ratios: general health

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

First

Lone

Step

Step+

own

Part

Part+

ownSte

p2

Step2

+own

Od

ds

ra

tio

s

Lone parents have worse health than those in first families

Stepparents with, or without, mutual children do not have worse health than those in first families

Partners of stepparents have worse health than first families, stepparents and lone parents

However, mutual children appear to attenuate the risk of poor health for partners of stepparents

Limitations

However, cross-sectional studies cannot control adequately for selection effects• Those who become stepparents (or their

partners) may be more prone to having poor mental health compared to other groups (Amato 2000)

Coleman et al. (2000) state that more longitudinal quantitative studies of the effects of stepparenting are required

Data that allow us to identify complex household arrangements and how they change through time

We also require attitudinal data Although stepfamilies are becoming

more common, the numbers are too small for a primary survey; we need to exploit a large-scale secondary data

Next stage, using the British Household Panel Study

ESRC funded UPTAP project

Ali Zohoor (Research Fellow)

[email protected]@dundee.ac.uk