Relationship Between the Parenting Styles of Biological Parents and Stepparents and the Adjustment of Young Adult Stepchildren

Abstract

This article examines the adjustment of 136 young adult stepchildren and exposure to parent and stepparent warmth, control, and parenting style (authoritative, authoritarian, supportive, or disengaged). Parental warmth was found to be consistently associated with adult children's adjustment, while parental control, and the individual parenting styles of parents and stepparents were largely unrelated to adjustment. Young adults whose parent and stepparent both employed a disengaged parenting style had significantly increased risks for engaging in criminal activities, using drugs, and being stressed, and were more likely to report multiple negative outcomes than those exposed to other parenting combinations. Young adults with clinically significant adjustment problems were least likely to have parents and stepparents who both employed authoritative styles of parenting. These data highlight the value of warm supportive relationships within stepfamilies and the importance of parents and stepparents adopting complementary parenting roles.

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