Parent-Child Interaction and Gender Differences in Early Adolescents' Adaptation to Stepfamilies

This study examined gender differences in early adolescents' adaptation to mother-custody stepfamilies and extended previous work that found that girls have more difficulties adjusting to these stepfamilies than do boys. Parent-child interaction was compared in mother-custody stepfamilies and intact families, with a focus on gender-of-child effects on parent-stepparent behavior toward child and child behavior toward parent-stepparent. A 2-wave longitudinal, within-family design with families ( n = 26) that had only 1 son and 1 daughter (ages 10-14 at Time 2) was used. A sequential analysis of several different types of behavior was done. The results indicate that girls had more difficulty interacting with stepfathers than sons did. The findings suggest how routine parent-child interaction in the home may contribute to girls' more problematic adjustment to mother-custody stepfamilies.