Youth Development in the Context of Family Transitions: A Longitudinal Analysis of Stepfamily Relationship Quality and Adolescent Adjustment

Background and Purpose: The Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative includes a focus on ensuring healthy development for all youth. Importantly, youth today are more likely to experience shifts in family structure than youth growing up in the mid-nineteenth century. Indeed, an estimated one-third of youth in the United States will reside in a stepfamily (usually with a biological mother and stepfather) before reaching adulthood. Family transitions in general and the transition to stepfamily life in particular can introduce stress into the lives of adults and youth. Scholars have noted that family processes exert proximal influence on youth adjustment in the context of family transitions. Thus, stepfamily processes, particularly the quality of dyadic relationships, may represent an important leverage point for interventions that aim to promote the well-being of stepchildren. The purpose of this study is to explore associations between the quality of three central dyadic relationships that encircle youth in stepfamilies and youths’ short-term and long-term adjustment (i.e., depression and physical symptoms).

Methods: Source of Data: Data for this study came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Sample: The examination of youth depression across adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood included a representative sample of 1,032 youth (mean age = 15.53 years; 51% female; 73% White); the examination of physical symptoms across two time-points in adolescence included a representative sample of 1,233 youth (mean age = 15.38 years; 50% female; 60% White). Both analytical samples included youth residing with a biological mother and stepfather during adolescence. Measures: Key exogenous constructs were stepfather-child relationship quality (5 items), mother-child relationship quality (5 items), and stepcouple relationship quality (3 items). Key endogenous constructs were Depression (8 items) and Physical Symptoms (10 items). Analysis: Longitudinal autoregressive structural equation models were used to specify latent constructs for stepfamily relationship quality and youth adjustment outcomes, account for measurement error, and examine paths between stepfamily relationship quality and youth adjustment over time.

Results: Results indicated that higher levels of stepfather-child and mother-child relationship quality were associated with decreases in concurrent levels of youth depression (β = -.18 and -.17, respectively) and physical symptoms (r = -.10 and -.13, respectively). Stepfather-child relationship quality was negatively associated with youths’ physical symptoms one year later (β = -.12), even after controlling for baseline levels of physical symptoms and other covariates. Results also indicated that higher levels of stepcouple relationship quality were associated with subsequent decreases in youth depression in emerging adulthood (β = -.15) and young adulthood (β = -.18), even after controlling for previous levels of depression and other covariates.

Conclusions and Implications: Stepfamilies are an increasingly common context in which youth develop. The quality of stepfamily relationships is linked to youths’ concurrent and subsequent psychological and physical health. These findings illustrate the importance of creating, adapting, and mobilizing interventions to effectively bolster dyadic and family relationship quality in stepfamilies—relationships marked by unique dynamics and challenges. Rich theoretical, conceptual, empirical, and clinical literatures across numerous disciplines can inform these efforts.