Family boundary ambiguity refers to a lack of clarity as to who is in and who is out of the family system. Few studies have examined this concept in the stepfamily context, which is problematic because such definitional problems hinder our understanding of close relationships in stepfamilies. Based on a nationally representative sample of first-married, remarried, and cohabiting couples with minor children, this study investigates the prevalence and nature of boundary ambiguity in stepfamilies (families that include children from previous unions) and the relationship between boundary ambiguity and couples’ relationship quality and stability. Results suggest that boundary ambiguity is much more prevalent in stepfamilies than original two-parent families and that boundary ambiguity is associated with the structure of the stepfamily. Boundary ambiguity is negatively associated with the quality of the couple’s relationship and stability of the union, but only from the perspective of wives and female partners.
Agresti, A., & Finlay, B. (1986). Statistical methods for the social sciences. San Francisco: Dellen.
2.
Ahrons, C. R. (1979). The binuclear family: Two households, one family. Alternative Lifestyles, 2, 499-515.
3.
Ambert, A. M. (1986). Being a stepparent: Live-in and visiting stepchildren. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 795-804.
4.
Bachrach, C. A. (1983). Children in stepfamilies: Characteristics of biological, step-, and adopted children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 171-179.
5.
Banker, B. S., & Gaertner, S. L. (1998). Achieving stepfamily harmony: An intergroup-relations approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 310-325.
6.
Beer, W. R. (1992). American stepfamilies. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
7.
Berger, R. (1998). Stepfamilies: A multi-dimensional perspective. New York: Haworth.
8.
Bernstein, A. C. (1989). Yours, mine, and ours. New York: Norton.
9.
Bohannan, P. (1970). Divorce chains, households of remarriage, and multiple divorces. In P. Bohannan (Ed.), Divorce and after (pp. 127-139). New York: Doubleday.
10.
Booth, A., & Edwards, J. N. (1992). Starting over: Why remarriages are more unstable. Journal of Family Issues, 13, 179-194.
11.
Borduin, C. M., Mann, B. J., Cone, L., & Borduin, B. J. (1990). Development of the concept of family in elementary school children. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 15, 33-43.
12.
Boss, P. (1977). A clarification of the concepts of psychological father presence in families experiencing ambiguity of boundary. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 39, 141-151.
13.
Boss, P. (1980a). Normative family stress: Family boundary changes across the lifespan. Family Relations, 29, 445-450.
14.
Boss, P. (1980b). The relationship of psychological father presence, wife’s personal qualities and wife/family dysfunction in families of missing fathers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 42, 541-549.
15.
Boss, P. (1987). Family stress. In M. B. Sussman & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Handbook of marriage and family (pp. 695-723). New York: Plenum.
16.
Boss, P., Caron, W., Horbal, J., & Mortimer, J. (1990). Predictors of depression in caregivers of dementia patients: Boundary ambiguity and mastery. Family Process, 29, 245-254.
17.
Boss, P., & Greenberg, J. (1984). Family boundary ambiguity: A new variable in family stress theory. Family Process, 23, 535-546.
18.
Braver, S., Fitzpatrick, P., & Bay, C. (1991). Noncustodial parents’ reports of child support payments. Family Relations, 40, 180-185.
19.
Bray, J. H., & Berger, S. H. (1993). Nonresidential parent-child relationships following divorce and remarriage. In C. E. Depner & J. H. Bray (Eds.), Nonresidential parenting: New vistas in family living (pp. 156-181). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
20.
Bray, J. H., Berger, S. H., & Boethel, C. L. (1995). Role integration and marital adjustment in stepfather families. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds.), Stepparenting: Issues in theory, research, and practice (pp. 69-86). Westport, CT: Praeger.
21.
Bumpass, L., Raley, R. K., & Sweet, J. A. (1995). The changing character of stepfamilies: Implications of cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing. Demography, 32, 425-436.
22.
Bumpass, L. L. (1984). Some characteristic features of children’s second families. American Journal of Sociology, 90, 608-623.
23.
Burns, L. H. (1987). Infertility as boundary ambiguity: One theoretical perspective. Family Process, 26, 359-372.
24.
Cherlin, A. J. (1978). Remarriage as an incomplete institution. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 634-650.
25.
Coleman, M., Ganong, L., & Fine, M. (2000). Reinvestigating remarriage: Another decade of progress. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1288-1307.
26.
DeMaris, A. (1995). A tutorial in logistic regression. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 956-968.
27.
Duberman, L. (1973). Step-kin relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35, 283-292.
28.
Fast, I., & Cain, A. C. (1966). The stepparent role: Potential for disturbances in family functioning. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 36, 485-491.
29.
Fine, M. A. (1995). The clarity and content of the stepparent role: A review of the literature. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 24, 19-34.
30.
Fine, M. A., Coleman, M., & Ganong, L. H. (1998). Consistency in perceptions of the step-parent role among step-parents, parents and stepchildren. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 810-828.
31.
Fine, M. A., & Kurdek, L. A. (1994). A multidimensional cognitive-development model of stepfamily adjustment. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds.), Stepparenting: Issues in theory, research, and practice (pp. 15-32). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
32.
Furstenberg, F. F. (1987). The new extended family. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds.), Remarriage and stepparenting: Current research and theory (pp. 42-64). New York: Guilford.
33.
Gager, C. T., & Sanchez, L. (2003). Two as one? Couples’ perceptions of time spent together, marital quality, and the risk of divorce. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 21-50.
34.
Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M. (1994). Remarried family relationships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
35.
Garasky, S., & Meyer, D. R. (1996). Reconsidering the increase in father-only families. Demography, 33, 385-393.
36.
Greif, G. L. (1997). Out of touch: When parents and children lose contact after divorce. New York: Oxford University Press.
37.
Gross, P. E. (1987). Defining postdivorce remarriage families: A typology based on the subjective perceptions of children. Journal of Divorce, 10, 205-217.
38.
Hetherington, E. M., & Jodl, K. M. (1994). Stepfamilies as settings for child development. In A. Booth & J. Dunn (Eds.), Stepfamilies: Who benefits, who does not? (pp. 55-79). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
39.
Hobart, C. (1988). The family system in remarriage: An exploratory study. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 649-661.
40.
Hofferth, S. C., & Anderson, K. G. (2003). Are all dads equal? Biology versus marriage as a basis for paternal investment. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 213-232.
41.
Jacobson, D. S. (1987). Family type, visiting patterns, and children’s behavior in the step-family: A linked family system. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds.), Remarriage and stepparenting: Current research and theory (pp. 257-272). New York: Guilford.
42.
Maccoby, E. E., & Mnookin, R. H. (1992). Dividing the child: Social and legal dilemmas of custody. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
43.
Madden-Derdich, D. A., Leonard, S. A., & Christopher, F. S. (1999). Boundary ambiguity and coparental conflict after divorce: An empirical test of a family systems model of the divorce process. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 588-598.
44.
Manning, W. D., Stewart, S. D., & Smock, P. J. (2003). The complexity of fathers’ parenting responsibilities and involvement with nonresident children. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 645-667.
45.
Marsiglio, W. (1992). Stepfathers with minor children living at home. Journal of Family Issues, 13, 195-214.
46.
Moorman, J. E., & Hernandez, D. J. (1989). Married-couple families with step, adopted, and biological children. Demography, 26, 267-277.
47.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1990). Advanced report of final marriage statistics, 1987 (Monthly vital statistics report, Vol. 38, No. 12, Supplement). Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.
48.
Nock, S. L. (1995). A comparison of marriages and cohabiting relationships. Journal of Family Issues, 16, 53-76.
49.
Papernow, P. L. (1993). Becoming a stepfamily. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
50.
Pasley, K. (1987). Family boundary ambiguity: Perceptions of adult stepfamily members. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds.), Remarriage and stepparenting: Current research and theory (pp. 206-224). New York: Guilford.
51.
Pasley, K., & Ihinger-Tallman, M. (1989). Boundary ambiguity in remarriage: Does ambiguity differentiate degree of marital adjustment and integration?Family Relations, 38, 46-52.
52.
Pryor, J., & Rodgers, B. (2001). Children in changing families. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
53.
Rogers, S. J. (1996). Marital quality, mothers’ parenting and children’s outcomes: A comparison of mother/father and mother/stepfather families. Sociological Focus, 29, 325-340.
54.
Santrock, J. W., & Sitterle, K. A. (1987). Parent-child relationships in stepmother families. In K. Pasley & M. Ihinger-Tallman (Eds.), Remarriage and stepparenting: Current research and theory (pp. 273-302). New York: Guilford.
55.
Scanzoni, J., Polonko, K., Teachman, J., & Thompson, L. (1989). The sexual bond: Rethinking families and close relationships. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
56.
Smart, C., Neale, B., & Wade, A. (2001). The changing experience of childhood: Families and divorce. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
57.
Sweet, J. A., Bumpass, L. L., & Call, V. (1988). The design and content of the National Survey of Families and Households (Working Paper #1). Madison: Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
58.
Thoits, P. (1992). Identity structures and psychological well-eing: Gender and marital status comparisons. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 236-256.
59.
Thomson, E. (1994). “Settings” and “development” from a demographic point of view. In A. Booth & J. Dunn (Eds.), Stepfamilies: Who benefits? Who does not? (pp. 89-96). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
60.
Trost, J. (1993). Family from a dyadic perspective. Journal of Family Issues, 14, 92-104.
61.
U.S. Census Bureau. (1992). Marriage, divorce, and remarriage in the 1990s (Current Population Reports, P23-180). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
62.
Veum, J. R. (1993). The relationship between child support and visitation: Evidence from longitudinal data. Social Science Research, 22, 229-244.
63.
Walker, K. N., & Messinger, L. (1979). Remarriage after divorce: Dissolution and reconstruction of family boundaries. Family Process, 18, 185-192.
64.
White, L. K. (1998). Who’s counting? Quasi-facts and stepfamilies in reports of number of siblings. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 725-733.
65.
White, L. K., & Booth, A. (1985). The quality and stability of remarriages: The role of stepchildren. American Sociological Review, 50, 689-698.
66.
White, L. K., Brinkerhoff, D. B., & Booth, A. (1985). The effect of marital disruption on child’s attachment to parents. Journal of Family Issues, 6, 5-22.
67.
Wineberg, H. (1990). Childbearing after remarriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 31-38.
68.
Wineberg, H., & McCarthy, J. (1998). Living arrangements after divorce: Cohabitation versus remarriage. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 29, 131-146.
