FAMILY STRUCTURE & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The Impact of Family Structure on Child Development and well-Being

Patricia Su

Psy 229 Child Development

October 19, 2021

Union Institute & University

Professor: Dr. Morrisey

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What are Modern Families

Much learning does not teach understanding (Heraclitus, 544-483 B.C) Many things have changed

since the 1970s resulting in the epic shifting of the family structure in the United States and

elsewhere. Social and economics policies women gaining a seat in the work force and climbing the

academic ladder., acceptance of alternative lifestyles, and increase in divorce rates and advances in

fertility technology treatments to name a few. The results is a picture of today’s modern families.

This can consist of single parent (male or female), remarried with stepparent with or without

children, unmarried cohabitating parent, same sex parents, sperm or egg donor parents,

grandparent parents and the list goes on (S. Golombok, 2015). In psychology we know the

importance of family structure and how crucial it is for healthy and harmonious growth in humans

as well as primates. For this write is in imperative to gain an understanding of how these modern

families are affecting our youth and in turn the adults they will become.

Family Structures

The family structures outlined and reviewed in the writing will mainly be blended families. Those

parents who divorce and remarry bringing their children intro the new marriage are those who

marry or cohabitate into a partnership with no children, ultimately taking on the role of a

stepparent. Also, same sex female partnerships who through donor donation have had a child

and co-parent that individual. Single parenting will be briefly addressed, and the focus of all

family structure discussed in the change of family structure that many of these children may

experience several times before they reach maturity (Raley and Wildsmith, 2004) and what

impact it has on mental and psychological development.

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Other Factors

In the past much attention on diverse family structure studies has been giving specifically to the

parent child relationship not taking into account the importance and complexity of sibling

structure. A study by J. Anderson in 2015 solicits that outcomes for children in complex family

structures ought to be studied from a child centered method over a parent center approach.

Thus gaining a broader view of all the parts including siblings of any kind and other instabilities

which can affect children. The study suggests that economic distress and family complexity go

hand in hand. Another study which reviewed the charts of 154 patients between the ages of 7-

12 in a 6 month period who were admitted to a behavioral mental health center (behere,

Basnet, Cambell, 2017) were trying to determine if family structure and behavioral

hospitalizations were related. They found that only 11% of patients came from homes in which 2

biological parent lived. The other 89% came from home with complex family structures with

some type of instability or disturbance within the home. Of all patients 36% had been subject to

physical abuse and 71% had either a parent of sibling who suffered from mental illness. To gain

a better understanding of the role sibling structure plays in the well-being and development of

children a need for more longitudinal studies is recommended.

Parenting Styles

The factors that usually determine if parenting is positive or negative on child development and

well-being stem form 3 criteria: the psychological well-being of the parent, parent-child

relationship, and the psychological characteristics of the child ( Golombok, S.2015). Parenting

styles and practices are a major contributor to a child’s overall well-being and development.

Longitudinal studies over four decades by Diana Baumrid (1967,1975,1980,1991). Gave us an

overview of three parenting style. First is Authoritarian who have high expectations and are very

controlling. They are not warn and fuzzy often treating children in a degraded fashion. Next, is
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Authoritative who are warm and open, yet they have high expectations and standards but allow

the children a voice in the family respecting and valuing their views. Lastly is the Permissive who

is warm but sets no limits or boundaries. These parents often give too much freedom and choice

than they are ready for. A last style called Uninvolved studied by Maccoby and Martin (1983),

are apathetic, extremely permissive and do not supervise their children. These parents are self-

absorbed and their children are at risk for behavioral issues. The capacity that a parent has to be

loving, affectionate to implement rules and methods of controlling children play a role as

important as the attachment children have with their parents (Bornstein, 2002; Collins,

Maccoby, Steinberg, etal; 2000, Lamb, 2012, Maccoby, and Martin, 1983). Of all the parenting

styles that have been identified children raised by Authoritative parents seems to fare better

psychologically and identified children raised in either Authoritarian, Permissive or Uninvolved

styles (Steinbur, 2001; Steinburg and Morris, 2001).

Personal Interviews

To gain a more personal understanding of what its like to live in some of the family structures

discussed the writer did four personal interviews. The goal of each interview was to discover

what similarities each family had an what was the most unique aspect of this persons’

experience. The first was with PT a 43 Latino woman who has always identified as lesbian. She

states she raised in a loving home with 3 brothers and biological married parents. She and her

mother have been practicing Buddhist for 20 years. She and her son are embraced and loved by

her entire family. She was with her same sex partner U for over 21 years. U a black female and

birth mother by donor to their son known as M. although the couple split up when M was four,

PT and her family continued to be in M’s life as any other parent. In all four interviews one of
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the parents involved came from nothing and gained not only financial success but usually

academic as well as displaying signs of resilience. U is the parent who was through out by an

abusive family when she was 15 and put herself through nursing school and acquired two more

master’s degrees. Their son M by all accounts is well adjusted, excels in school, and is a typical

teenage boy. During her pregnancy U attends support groups and got to know all the women

who had also used the same donor. Over the years M has met 20 of his step siblings so he has

an idea of his origin.

The next two interviews are of stepsisters from a blended family KC is a 26-year-old white family

raised in an upper middle-class family with 3 biological siblings. At age 13 her parents divorced,

with mom getting custody. When she was 15 her mother remarried a man, who had 3 biological

daughter. Her stepfather whom she has never felt fatherly towards although she admits its not

his fault, but her issue is a good provider for all the family. KC says (He has knowledge about life

things like insurance, leases, cars, you know baseline father stuff, that’s what ill go to him for).

She disclosed that he grew up with nothing took care of all his siblings and eventually build a

business which is extremely successful. KC describes her relationship with her biological father

as a friend she can call occasionally, who provides no financial support, is unreliable, reckless

and an alcoholic. Her mother is loving but not particularly affectionate. She shows you by her

acting and concern how much she cares. By both the girls’ interviews KC’s mother sounds like a

superwoman who raised three children daughters and a son basically by herself. After she

remarried was a mother figure to his daughter. By both accounts she parented in an

Authoritative style. Unlike the other interviews KC gave me her analysis of each family member’s

reaction to their perspective family break-up and how she saw it play out in their lives. She gave

me examples and you could feel her compassion.

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JE is KC’s youngest stepsister. She is a 24 year-old white female with 2 biological older sisters.

Her mother was diagnosed Borderline personality and as a result of her unpredictable and

irrational behavior her parents divorced when she was 14 and her father received custody. At 15

her father remarried KC’s mother and she inherited 4 stepsiblings. Unlike any of the other

families when JE’s parents split up no discussion or family meetings were presented to help the

children understand what was going on. Her father basically retrieved the children after the

mother had kidnapped them. So needless to say, she fairly easily gravitated to a mother figure

who was caring, reliable and loving. Both girls admit that being in a house with four girls all in

high school at the same time was a challenge but the importance of their relationships with

each other was duly noted. They also both conceded that the most difficult part for each of

them was during times of transition. JE and KC admit that their parents divorces were traumatic.

Family and individual therapy were used as needed for the next several years.

My final interview was with a JT a 56-year-old white woman in recovery for 37 years with no

biological children. For the past 14 years she has been a stepmother to a 4 non biological

children. She is the legal domestic partner to a man named R. She grew up in an upper middle-

class home and at 12 her parents divorced. It was an amicable divorce in which both parents

treated and spoke about each other respectfully and her father was still involved at school and

other aspects of her life. When her father remarried her mother encouraged her to respect and

obey her stepmother. JT had a good relationship with both her mother and stepmother.

JT met R though a mutual friends and moved in with him after 12 months. Within two years they

had full custody of all minor children including one who is classified as mentally incapacitated.

The cages ranged from 4 years to 17. R is an only child immigrant who came to the USA from

Cuba and grew up in the projects of New York. He worked very hard and put himself through

law school.
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Factors that seems critical for the success of this blended family were that the home was stable,

routine, rules were implemented, and everyone pitched in. This was a unified system devised by

both parents. Another factor in all of the families that I interviewed were that they all had

financial resourced available. For JT and R this is also included state services for the mentally

incapacitated child which entailed work programs and respite services. The most compelling

part of JT’s story as her love and commitment to R and raining this family as best she should.

Conclusion

The list of modern family structures gets longer as our technology advances, acceptance of

alternative and diverse lifestyles becomes prevalent, and society as a whole evolves and

changes. Despite all the modern family structures the gold stand is still the traditional nuclear

family and remains the comparison for all other forms (Golombok, 2015). Research has

indicated that children who live in any type of family structure other than 2 biological subjects

to more complex family dynamics and do not do as well as children who live with their own

parents. An increase of children who reside with cohabitating unmarried parents, stepparents or

single mother or father homes had led to family inconsistency where children may change living

situations several times during their youth (Raley & Wildsmith, 2004). We have learned from

research and heard from personal experience that the style of parenting and how children are

raised play the biggest and most important aspect of their overall well-being and psychosocial

development. The level of stress and economic status are factors that cannot be overlooked. But

no matter what type of family structure a child is raised in research has shown that the care,

values, and love a child receives generally determine the outcome.

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References:

Anderson, J (2014). The impact of family structure on the health of children: Effects of divorce.

The Linarce Quarterly, 81 (4), 378-387

Behere, A.P. Basnet, P., & Campbell, P (2017). Effects of family structure on mental health of

children: a preliminary study. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 39(4) 457.

Golombok, S. (2015). Modern families: Parents and children in a new family forms. Cambrige

University Press.

Golombok, S., & Tasker, F. Socioemotional development in changing families

Handbook of child psychology and developmental science, 1-45

Horton-Paerker, R. J., & Brown, N.W. (2002). The unfolding life: Counseling across the lifespan.

Begin & Garvey