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Parent–Child Relationships in Stepfather Families and Adolescent Adjustment: A Latent Class Analysis
Author(s) -
Amato Paul R.,
King Valarie,
Thorsen Maggie L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12267
Subject(s) - closeness , latent class model , stepfamily , psychology , developmental psychology , juvenile delinquency , adolescent health , medicine , mathematical analysis , statistics , mathematics , nursing
In the current study the authors drew on Waves I and III from Add Health to examine the closeness of parent–adolescent relationships in married mother–stepfather families ( N = 1,934). They used latent class analysis to identify family constellations defined by adolescents' relationships with all of their parents: mothers, stepfathers, and biological nonresident fathers. In particular, the authors (a) identified the most common underlying patterns of adolescent–parent relationships in stepfamilies; (b) determined the background characteristics that predict membership in these groups; and (c) examined how adolescents in these groups fare with respect to depressive symptoms, delinquency, and substance use. The results indicate that adolescents' relationships can be represented with 4 latent classes. Adolescents in these classes differ on measures of adjustment, and many of these differences persist into the early adult years.