(Press-News.org) COLUMBIA, Mo. - More than 40 percent of Americans have at least one step relative, according to a recent Pew Center study. Relationships between stepchildren and stepparents can be complicated, especially for children. University of Missouri experts have found that stepchildren relate with stepparents based on the stepparents' treatment of them and their evaluations, or judgments, of the stepparents' behaviors.
"It takes both parties – children and adults – to build positive relationships in stepfamilies," said Larry Ganong, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. "Children and stepparents should think of it as building a friendship. There's no perfect formula for doing this, and even if stepchildren initially reject their stepparents, it shouldn't be viewed as permanent. Relationships among stepchildren and stepparents can grow in acceptance, friendship and bonding, regardless of how they begin. Negative relationships don't have to last forever."
Ganong and Marilyn Coleman, Curators Professor in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, identified factors that are related to positive and negative stepchild-stepparent relationships. They found that stepchildren build positive or negative relationships based on their evaluations, or judgments, of stepparents' behaviors toward them and their family. Children also are affected by the opinions and actions of their biological parents and other family members as they develop relationships with stepparents.
The MU researchers evaluated stepchildren's participation and contributions in building relationships with stepparents. They identified six patterns of step-relationship development from stepchildren's perspectives: accepting as a parent, liking from the start, accepting with ambivalence, changing trajectory, rejecting and coexisting.
"Whether or not stepparents are accepted by stepchildren depends on the overall family situation and if they are recognized as being beneficial to their family, either financially or emotionally," Ganong said. "However, step-relationships aren't determined solely by individual actions, but by the collective interactions of both persons in the relationship."
Another complication is the presence of interested third parties, such as biological parents and siblings, and their reactions to stepparents. Through a process called triangulation, many nonresidential birth parents work to get their children to "side" with them and therefore, reject stepparents.
"Rather than engage children against stepparents, parents should seek counsel from persons outside the family, such as a minister, a therapist or best friend, and avoid getting kids involved," Ganong suggests. "Parents should remember that they won't be replaced by stepparents if they maintain strong bonds and that their kids will still love them, even if they also love their stepparents. Relationships are not a zero sum game; there isn't a limit on how much and who people can love."
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The study, "Patterns of Stepchild-Stepparent Relationship Development," will be published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. The research was funded by the University of Missouri Research Council and the Agricultural Experiment Station at MU. Ganong has a joint appointment in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing.
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WASHINGTON—April 6, 2011—With Congress at a budget impasse, a new poll suggests the nation's leaders should look more deeply at the public's priorities, particularly regarding proposed cuts to medical, health and scientific research. Research!America urges our nation's leaders to put the public's interest and the nation's future ahead of politics and to move past polarizing budget battles and the uncertainty of continuing resolutions that resolve nothing. Americans are hungry for solutions from Washington.
The poll, commissioned by Research!America, surveyed a mix of ...
In the same way that a drunk driving accident may result in criminal (DUI) charges as well as civil claims (for property damage or injuries caused in the accident), worksite accidents may also give rise to both criminal charges and civil claims for damages.
A recent case out of San Luis Obispo County is a perfect example where both civil and criminal consequences arose out of a construction accident. A construction site foreman was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of violating the Labor Code in connection with a worksite accident in ...
CHICAGO --- In a large multi-center clinical trial, a new PSA test to screen for prostate cancer more accurately identified men with prostate cancer -- particularly the aggressive form of the disease -- and substantially reduced false positives compared to the two
currently available commercial PSA tests, according to newly published research from Northwestern Medicine.
The only currently available Food and Drug Administration-approved screening tests for prostate cancer result in a high number of false positives and lead to unnecessary biopsies and possible over-detection ...
Troy, N.Y. – Proteins are critically important to life and the human body. They are also among the most complex molecules in nature, and there is much we still don't know or understand about them.
One key challenge is the stability of enzymes, a particular type of protein that speeds up, or catalyzes, chemical reactions. Taken out of their natural environment in the cell or body, enzymes can quickly lose their shape and denature. Everyday examples of enzymes denaturing include milk going sour, or eggs turning solid when boiled.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor ...
Royal Oak health law attorney Andrew B. Wachler provided a review of the past year's developments in Medicare and Medicaid hospital audits at the American Health Lawyers Association's Hospital and Health System Law Institute in February in Las Vegas. The Law Institute sessions provided practicing health care lawyers with an analysis of the legal challenges they face.
The principal for Royal Oak law firm Wachler & Associates, P.C., Wachler has been practicing health care law for over 25 years. He counsels U.S. health care providers and organizations in a variety of health ...
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Public relations professionals constantly look for ways to most effectively promote their messages to the media. Sun-A Park, a researcher at the University of Missouri School of Journalism surveyed more than 300 health journalists and found that those who cover strokes and stroke prevention tend to hold negative views of corporate pharmacy media relations, while those who regularly read medical journals tend to cover more stories based on corporate press releases. Park says one key factor influencing journalists' attitudes concerning corporate media press ...
A groundbreaking clinical study of a new method for preventing premature birth in millions of women each year, published in the medical journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, shows that the rate of early preterm delivery in women (< 33 weeks) can be reduced by 45 percent – simply by treating pregnant women at risk with a low-cost gel of natural progesterone during the midtrimester of pregnancy until term.
The peer-reviewed findings were led by the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health, housed by the Wayne State University School of ...
LIVERMORE, Calif. --Unlike many conventional chemical detectors that require an external power source, Lawrence Livermore researchers have developed a nanosensor that relies on semiconductor nanowires, rather than traditional batteries.
The device overcomes the power requirement of traditional sensors and is simple, highly sensitive and can detect various molecules quickly. Its development could be the first step in making an easily deployable chemical sensor for the battlefield.
The Lab's Yinmin "Morris" Wang and colleagues Daniel Aberg, Paul Erhart, Nipun Misra, Aleksandr ...
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CfA astronomers have found a pair of white dwarf stars orbiting each other once every 39 minutes. In a few million years, they will merge and reignite as a helium-burning...
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White dwarfs are dead stars that pack a Sun's-worth of matter into an Earth-sized ball. Astronomers have just discovered an amazing pair of white dwarfs whirling around each other once every 39 minutes. This is the shortest-period pair of white dwarfs now known. ...
Government regulation is meant to protect safety and reduce risks to people who might otherwise be injured. The Declaration of Independence promised "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," but when that pursuit is unchecked, people too often get hurt by others' dangerous conduct. In our system, government is supposed to level the playing field.
That is why, for much of the twentieth century, regulation by states and the federal government grew -- and the result was a safer America. It was democracy in action, as elected legislatures agreed upon safety standards ...
