DOES STEP-PARENTING INFLUENCE MENTAL HEALTH? Paul Boyle, Peteke Feijten, Zhiqiang Feng, Elspeth Graham, Vernon Gayle

Stepfamilies in the UK n Growing number of stepfamilies where a lone parent forms a new marriage or partnership. n About 12% of British children will live in a stepfamily before their sixteenth birthday. n About 40% of mothers will experience being a lone parent and about 75% of lone mothers will go on to form a stepfamily. n Nearly 90% of stepfamilies involve children living with their mother and a new male partner. n Despite the rising incidence of stepfamilies researchers have been slow to acknowledge the importance of such families.

Stepfamilies and health n Numerous studies highlight the strains that every-day life in stepfamilies may entail and the effects on stepchildren’s health and well-being. n Stepchildren experience the breakdown of their parent’s relationship, may feel neglected by the biological parent, and may have to divide their time between two homes. n Various negative outcomes for stepchildren Perform worse at school More at risk for behavioural and developmental problems Higher risk of drinking alcohol, drug abuse and problem behaviour

n Considerable literature on the effects of family arrangements and marital status on adult health Higher mortality rates among the unmarried, those who live alone and the divorced More depressive symptoms are apparent among the recently separated Lone parents suffer higher levels of mental distress than other parents n Very few studies examine explicitly the effects of living in a stepfamily on stepparents’ and their partner’s health

Why do we expect stepparenting to affect mental health? n Stepparents’ experience is potentially stressful Relationship with stepchildren may be difficult – may be resistant to new additions to the family The relationship between the mother/father and children often deeply established The stepparent may feel jealous of the time their partner devotes to her/his children Described as ‘polite strangers’ in the lives of partner’s children

n Partners of stepparents (usually women) may also find things stressful The mother is responsible for bringing the family together Axis around which the family revolves – devoted to ‘making it better for everyone’ Conflict that arises from their love for their children and their new spouse Some feel guilt because they are ‘betraying’ their children by remarrying Caught between children’s need for stability and stepparent’s needs for change May experience problems with previous partner

Hypotheses 1.Stepparents have worse mental health outcomes than biological parents in first families. 2.The partners of stepparents have worse mental health outcomes than biological parents in first families. 3.Those with poor mental health are more likely to end up in stepfamilies (=health selection into stepfamilies). But: 4.Selection effects do not fully explain why stepparents have worse mental health.

Several dimensions for defining stepfamilies n Respondent is stepparent or partner of stepparent n Only one partner or both partners bring in children n Partners also have common children or not n Stepparent is male or female n Stepchildren are resident or non-resident n Stepchildren are young or adolescent n Stepchildren are boys or girls n Stepfamily is a result of divorce or widowhood

Data n National Child Development Study (NCDS) n Birth cohort of 17,416 respondents born in a single week in 1958 n Includes data on mental health, partnership histories, and other time-invariant and time- varying demographic, health and socio- economic variables n Interviewed seven times at birth and 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 41 – we focus on age 33 n Sample excludes the childless and those with missing data (sample size = 6,121)

(Step)family characteristics

Mental health measures n Dependent variable is mental health (Rutter’s Malaise Inventory Scale) 24 questions designed to capture depression and anxieties, obsessions and phobias Score of 7 or more defined as poor mental health (12%) n Rutter’s Home Behaviour Scale measure collected in 1974 at age questions designed to capture externalizing behaviour (under-controlled behaviour such as aggression or disobedience) and internalizing behaviour (over-controlled behaviour such as anxiety or depression) Score of 7 or more defined as behavioural problems (21%)

Variables Age 33 Mental health (dependent) Family status Sex Household size Employment status Highest education Social class Age 16 Living with natural mother Father interested in child's education School abilities Behavioural problems Age 7 Domestic tension School abilities Financial hardship

Bivariate result: family type and mental health

Health selection into stepfamilies? In stepfamily 33? Behavioural problems 16?NoYesTotal No Yes Total 4057 (84.1) 1001 (77.1) (15.9) 297 (22.9) (100) 1298 (100) 6121 Pearson chi2(1) = P < 0.000

In stepfamily 33? Behavioural problems 16?NoYesTotal No Yes Total 4057 (84.1) 1001 (77.1) (15.9) 297 (22.9) (100) 1298 (100) 6121 Pearson chi2(1) = P < Health selection into stepfamilies?

Odds of poor mental health at age 33 (1991) by family status

Odds of poor mental health at age 33 (1991) by family status and behavioural problem status at age 16 (1974)

Additional outcomes n Having common children reduced rates of mental illness, but none of the differences between adults in stepfamilies with and without common children were statistically significant. n The presence of adolescent children (age 13-17) in the household was shown to increase the likelihood of poor mental health, but this was true for all family types. n Adults in stepfamilies with non-resident children were more likely to have mental health problems than their counterparts who did not have non-resident children. The effect was particularly strong among people who had behavioural problems at age 16.

Conclusion n First study to compare mental health for stepparents or partners of stepparents, compared to those in first families. n The NCDS is valuable as it includes a complex household grid and mental health variables. n Longitudinal analysis allows control for the potential confounding effect of selection (those with behavioural problems in early life are more likely to enter stepfamily relationships).

n Bivariate results indicated that adults in stepfamilies (and lone parents) were indeed more likely to suffer poor mental health than those in first families. n However, those with a high HBS score at age 16 were more likely to enter a stepparent family. n For those with low HBS scores at age 16 only those in more complex dual stepparent families (and lone parents) had significantly worse health than those in first families.

n For those who had high HBS scores at age 16 stepparents, all those in stepfamilies (and lone parents) had significantly worse mental health than those in first families. n Hence our results suggest that those who had behavioural problems in adolescence are much more likely to suffer poor mental health in later life, but that those who end up living in stepfamilies suffer a significantly heavier burden on their mental health.

ESRC funded UPTAP project Ali Zohoor & Peteke Feijten