pfamily" is associated with broken homes and deprivation. In fact, stepchild is defined by The Random House Dictionary not only as, "a child of a husband or wife by a previous marriage," but also as, "any person, organization, affiliate or project that is not properly treated, supported, or appreciated." (p. 4)
Similarly, Darden and Zimmerman (1992), as well as Ganong, Coleman and Kennedy (1990) have reported that views of the stepfamily have become so negative that it is currently considered more of a derogatory label than a mere descriptor of a particular family structure.
One reason why stepfamilies have come to have such negative associations is because there have been a number of comparative studies of blended and intact families showing significantly lower adjustment levels for children and adolescents living in stepfamilies. For example, adolescents in blended families have been found to have poorer personal, emotional and academic adjustment than adolescents from intact families (Demo & Acock, 1992; Hetherington, 1991).
It has also been found that children from blended families have poorer self-concepts and more external locus of control (more prone to abdicate self-responsibility) than children from intact families (Bosler, Green & Kolevzon, 1986). Further, when compared to children from blended families evidence more disruptive classroom behavior than children from intact families (Bray & Berger, 1993; Downey, 1995; Featherstone, Cundick & Jensen, 1993).
Other studies have observed that stepchildren are more likely than children from intact families to internalize anger and hostility and to act out their behavioral problems (Ganong & Coleman, 1993b); they also have poor self-concepts and interpersonal relations (Sweeney, 1993) and handle mental issues less well then children in intact families (Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1994).
However, what has not been much addressed in the literature is the fact that sever...