CHILD ADJUSTMENT IN DIVORCED AND REMARRIED FAMILIES

The adjustment of children in divorced-single-parent families and in

stepfamilies is similar
(Amato, 1994; Bray, 1999; Cherlin and Furstenberg, 1994; Hetherington,
1993; Hetherington and Clingempeel, 1992; Hetherington and Jodl, 1994).
Most children experience emotional and behavioral problems in the
months immediately following parental divorce or remarriage (for reviews
see Amato and Keith, 1991a, 1991b; Cherlin and Furstenberg, 1994;
Hetherington, Bridges, and Insabella, 1998; Hetherington and StanleyHagan, 1999). Although these problems diminish with time, children from
divorced and remarried families on the average exhibit more behavior
problems and are less academically, socially, and psychologically well
adjusted than those in nondivorced families (Amato, 1999a, in press;
Amato andKeith, 1991a, 1991b;Avenevoli, Sessa, and Steinberg, 1999;
Bray, 1999; Capaldi and Patterson, 1991; Chase-Lansdale, Cherlin, and
Kiernan, 1995; Hetherington, 1999a; Hetherington and Clingempeel, 1992;
McLanahan, 1999; Zill, 1994; Zill, Morrison, and Coiro, 1993). Furthermore,
in adolescence and young adulthood, problems in adjustment, family
relations, and the formation of stable intimate relationships can emerge or
intensify (Amato, 1999a; Amato and Booth, 1997; Amato and Keith,
1991a; Bray, 1999; Bray and Berger, 1993; Buchanan, Maccoby, and
Dornbusch, 1996; Cherlin, Chase-Lansdale, and McRae, 1998;
Hetherington, 1993; Hetherington and Clingempeel, 1992; Hetherington et
al., 1999; McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994; Powell and Parcel, 1997;
Simons and Associates, 1996; Wolfinger, 2000; Zill et al., 1993).
In nondivorced families and in divorced-single-parent and remarried
households, childrens adjustment is associated with the quality of the
parenting environment regardless of the number of family reorganizations
or the time since each transition (Baumrind, 1991; Fine and Kurdek, 1994;
Forgatch, Patterson, and Ray, 1996; Hetherington, 1991, 1993, 1999b;
Hetherington and Clingempeel, 1992; OConnor, Thorpe, Dunn, and
Golding, 1999; Simons, 1996). Parenting quality not only affects children
directly, but also modifies the impact of many ecological stressors
associated with family transitions (DeGarmo and Forgatch, 1999;
Hetherington, 1993, 1999b; Hetherington and Clingempeel,
1992; Simons and Associates, 1996). Children adjust best when the
custodial parent is authoritative. An authoritative parent is warm,
supportive, responsive to the childs needs, open in communication,
monitors the childrens activities, and exerts firm, consistent control
(Hetherington and Clingempeel, 1992; Steinberg, Mounts, Lamborn, and
Dornbusch, 1991). Uniquely important to the adjustment of children in
divorced and remarried homes is the degree to which divorced mothers
and fathers are able to establish and maintain cooperative, shared
parenting relationships and the quality of childrens relationships with
parents and stepparents. Although there are few systematic studies
comparing the effects of divorce and remarriage on children in different
ethnic groups, McLanahan (1999) in her reanalysis of 10 large survey data

sets reports that European American children in single-parent families are

more disadvantaged compared with those of two-parent families than are
African American and Latin American families. Being in a single-parent
family led to a greater increase in the risk of school dropout, low academic
attainment, not completing college, and teen births for European
American than for African American and Latin American offspring. In
contrast, African American youths in single-parent families were more
disadvantaged than European American youths in labor market
detachment, that is, in being out of school and out of work. Furthermore,
living with a stepfather was more likely to increase the chance of an
African American than a European American stepsons finishing high
school. These ethnic differences in child adjustment in different family
types did not seem to be associated with the effectiveness of authoritative
parenting as a protective factor in different ethnic groups. Differences in
authoritative parenting between divorced and married parents vary little
across ethnic groups. Authoritative parenting is generally beneficial to
children in all ethnic groups for most areas of adjustment; however, in the
areas of distress and grade point average, middle-class African American
adolescents benefit less from authoritative parenting than do adolescents
in other ethnic groups (Avenoli et al., 1999). In antisocial behavior, the
area in which the largest differences between the adjustment of children
in divorced and remarried families and those in nondivorced families
usually are obtained, authoritative parenting serves as an equally
effective buffer.