Complete and Incomplete Family

There are also several variables that can have an effect in addition to the nontraditional family type.

This literature review is broken down into two sections:

1.  nontraditional family type, and
2.  variables. The family type section explains the problems that exist in the different types of nontraditional homes. The variable section goes into more detail about the different variables within these homes that can contribute to poor emotional health among children.

Nontraditional Family Types

Cohabiting Families. There were overwhelming reviews of many studies that indicated that children living among a cohabited family structure exhibited a multitude of issues; however, there seems to be a discrepancy when a cohabited structure existed, but the parents are the biological parents.

Given this type of environment, some studies suggest there is no negative impact on the child’s wellbeing and is considered to be very similar to a traditional home structure while other studies suggest just the opposite. Although many children are born to cohabiting parents, the most common cohabiting arrangement is a biological mother and a male partner. Studies indicate that children who live in this type of cohabiting family tend to fare worse with respect to behavioral problems and school engagement, depression, and have higher crime rates. This family type is viewed as having a high negative impact on children because of instability, economic strain, loss of security, and higher abuse rates. There seems to also be a correlation between the age of the child and the effects of cohabitation. Younger children need to have a good foundation of nurturing and stability in order for them to avoid long-term health effects and emotional issues.

Single Parent Families. The overall research studies indicate that single parent families had very similar outcomes as cohabiting families. One study used a survey to analyze the correlation between children that live with two biological parents as opposed to one parent, whether married or cohabiting. This study indicated poor monitoring, economic issues, stress, lack of father involvement, parent behavior and lack of affection have significant consequences in the overall wellbeing of children, particularly ones that don’t live with both biological parents.

Several statistics from different articles, were all consistent with the association of depression and single parent households. One explanation may relate to the lack of attention and parental guidance as single parents are solely responsible for their child’s physical and emotional wellbeing and may not have the time to attend to their basic needs. Having to adjust to schedules, and the lack of seeing one biological parent for a given amount of time also contributes to emotional instability in children. If there is also a variable change with time and money, especially in single parent households, this can lead to regression among the family dynamic.

Blended and Step Families. Datasets and other studies were used to analyze the correlation between family type and a child’s education and mental health. Multiple studies suggest a correlation between lower test scores, and a decrease in educational outcomes among blended and step families as well as an increase in mental disorders. There are also indications that educational outcomes for both types of children in blended families - stepchildren and their half-siblings who are the joint biological children of both parents - are similar to each other and have substantially worse outcomes than children in traditional nuclear families. Blended and step families tend to exhibit more stress, especially in the beginning, as they are still trying to define roles and parent as a team; therefore, stress, income, transitions, time, and money seem to have an impact on education, testing, and the emotional wellbeing of children involved. This can be challenging for children as they not only have to accept a new parent with new rules, but possibly other siblings as well. Some studies suggest a direct correlation between these family types and mental health, emotional wellbeing and educational success; however, there are discrepancies for a true correlation as there can be multiple variables outside this analysis that can cause regression, such as, the death of a parent or the divorce of parents.

Variables

Divorce Effects. Children of divorced parents displayed signs of lower self-esteem, depression and lower academic achievement. One study concluded that the rise in divorce had lowered the average level of child wellbeing, primarily due to parents fighting, lack of attention, adjusting to seeing one parent part-time and grieving for the loss of their family. If the parents remarry, having a stepfamily adds to the stress the child is already experiencing.

Stability in children is typically enforced by their parents. When stability is broken, particularly through divorce, it can leave a child in emotional distress. Some studies indicate that the distress children feel from divorce may only be short-term, whereas, other studies indicate that children can carry that emotional distress through adolescence and adulthood. Children can develop depression and anxiety from the transitional change of losing that family stability and structure. Depression and anxiety in children can lead to an overall feeling of despair, lack of motivation, concentration, anger, and behavioral issues. Divorce is seen as setting off a chain of negative events and transitions that are causally related to youths’ psychological distress and may be more potent than the physical separation of parents. Empirical data analyzed from another study indicates that children from divorced parents tend to have a negative view towards marriage, which means the effects of divorce still play a large role in the child’s perception of the world. Children of divorced families tend to be more delinquent, have aggressive behaviors and have a lower achievement rate in school. The change in economic status among divorces can also play a huge part in the emotional wellbeing of children. If re-marriage is added into the mix, children’s emotions and feelings can intensify as they may not have overcome the depression, anxiety, and negative effects divorce left on them.

Income. Increased family size has been known to have a financial strain on blended and step families, so children may not be able to participate in activities, events, or have vacations like they used to. Single parent families may also feel the stress of going from two incomes to one. One study used a quantitative approach to assess whether a child’s behavior was affected by resources, such as income, within different family types. The children involved in the research were between the ages of three and twelve. They were placed in four groups depending on age, so they could measure the association of behavior at different developmental stages, and the changes in family structure. The research suggests that changes to family structure from a two-biological-parent household to a single parent household had higher levels of behavioral issues for younger children; furthermore, it indicated that children of higher income parents, moving into a stepfamily may improve, not undermine, behavior. Other studies have also shown that income as well as the age of the child at the time of the family type change can have an impact in the overall behavior of the child.

Attention. Children in nontraditional families can feel that they don’t matter anymore, or that the attention they once had from their biological parent is non-existent since other kids or a new spouse are taking up more time and attention. Younger children tend to depend on their parents more for attention, direction, encouragement, and guidance. If there is a change to the family type from an early age, parents tend to focus less on the children at hand, and more on life that now has become more difficult. The only child from a traditional family may have the potential for most change within the blended or stepfamily because until the blending, they had both of their parent’s full attention. This can cause a rift in the family dynamic and lead to children feeling alone and abandoned.

Discipline. Discipline and defining parent roles can be a major problem among nontraditional families. Single parents may not have the time or attention to enforce rules, supervision, or discipline as they once had, potentially leading to higher rates of delinquency, emotional distress and educational failure. Blended and step families may have difficulty defining each other’s role and may have considerable disagreements about discipline. These disagreements could lead to friction among the family dynamic, which can cause confusion and feelings of fault in children. A change in parenting styles and routines may be a struggle for children as they can find it difficult to adapt. Children may feel that the new level of discipline somehow replaces their other biological parent which can cause resentment issues. Change increases the level of stress among children which can affect their emotional stability and educational outcomes.

Key Findings Implications for Professional Practice

Most research articles assessed for this review used survey methods, longitudinal studies, data sets, and educational standardized scores to record information related to the correlation of family types and a child’s emotional wellbeing, health, behavior and educational success. Statistics among all the references suggest that children have a higher percentage rate of having emotional, behavior and health problems associated to living in a nontraditional family home verses a traditional family home. Although statistics state this information, there are still variables that may contribute to this factor outside of just the living status. Such factors include: disorders due to divorce, age of child, income, gender, whether it’s a single parent home, or a blended family, re-marriage or cohabiting, how often children see their other biological parent, if the primary custodial parent is the mother or father, birth order, and many other contributing factors.

The most profound problem that displayed in several of the research articles was the lack or decline in stability among the family structure. Another variable that seemed to be addressed in several articles consistently was the age of the child during and after transition. Younger children seem to adapt better when it comes to social situations, such as, making friends; however, they don’t adapt as well when attention is lost or redirected to someone else. They have a hard time sharing a parent especially if they have been living with a single parent for an extended period of time, and then that parent ends up remarrying. Younger children also need a stable environment because too many transitions can lead to overwhelming feelings that they don’t know how to process. If a child is too overwhelmed, it can lead to increased anxiety and behavioral problems at home and in school. Older children tend to like the space from their parents but have a more difficult time in social situations. These factors aren’t just prevalent in one family type verses another, they are prevalent in all family types.

Compared to children living in traditional families, children in single parent, blended, and step families experienced a higher prevalence of mental disorders. Though the outcome shows a correlation, this correlation is not all-encompassing to mental disorders. Other variables such as time of separation or divorce and parental upbringing can all play a part in a child’s mental stability. When controls for other variables are introduced, the relationship between family type and children’s educational outcomes weakens substantially and is often statistically insignificant.

Although research studies indicate living in a nontraditional home drastically decreases a child’s emotional wellbeing, health, behavior, and educational success; the research doesn’t seem indicative to the decrease, because there are too many variables that can affect the overall wellbeing of a child. In reading all these reviews, it seemed obvious that the quality of parenting, parental resources and the overall environment were more dominant than the actual family type. The way a child is raised is clearly important for determining the makeup of that child. Since nontraditional families are becoming the norm, future research should be conducted to find what different parenting styles among nontraditional families is linked to improvements in a child’s well-being.

Just because studies suggest a correlation between family type and decline in a child’s wellbeing, it doesn’t mean there aren’t preventive interventions to improve that wellbeing. In short, it can take some families years to adjust to changes in the home, but if parents are proactive, they have a good chance in reducing and addressing potential problems. Although a bond between siblings and adults in a blended and stepfamily can’t happen overnight, it is imperative to take the process slow and stay consistent so children can have a successful transition among their blended family. It is important that the adults act like a team, decide on rules and consequences together as well as remain consistent with all children. Making each child feel special and giving undivided positive attention to them will have a positive effect as they will have feelings of belonging and love. If in a blended or stepfamily, both adults should attend each child’s activities so it doesn’t feel like any child is being favored over another. It is important to have strong communication, family togetherness and bonding, having boundaries and not engaging in favoritism. Parents can also attend parent management training or groups that have been known to be supportive and can help recognize depression from an early age. Taking preventative measures by the parent can help ensure their child children will have a healthy upbringing. Children should also seek counseling when any traumatic situation takes place or when transitions seem overwhelming. Children may not know how to express their feelings so speaking to someone outside the family structure has shown to be beneficial.

Conclusion

The conclusion of this article was that the quality of parenting, parental resources and the overall environment seemed to play a more important role to the overall emotional wellbeing of the child versus the actual family type. If parents can co-parent, be consistent, communicate and are attentive to a child’s needs and feelings then they can help a child transition from different circumstances they never asked for. Small approaches to engage, validate a child’s feelings and to make sure they have feelings of belonging will help curve negative feelings. It is important to have regular family meetings where emotions can be discussed as well as giving children room to be themselves and adapt to the change of family structure and environment.

Blending families can bring on feelings of not belonging or feelings of inadequacy in children. They may not get along with their new step-parent or step-sibling which could have a daunting effect on their psychological wellbeing. They may not be accepting of their new position in their household and; furthermore, may be resentful towards their biological parent for remarrying or cohabiting. Having a new authority figure may be challenging, as well as, sharing space with new step-siblings. Attention and time may be restricted to the child as there are other people in the household that also require the biological parent’s attention and time. Single parent households may be limited financially which could mean a decrease in extracurricular activities or outings. Additional stress on parents can also put stress on a child.

It is imperative for parents to take things slow, allow children to grieve through divorce and seek professional help, so the child can learn how to cope with these new feelings. If parents think that children are resilient to so many changes, and they will eventually get used to it, then the lack of help and support could be detrimental to the health and emotions of that child. If children have the resources they need for emotional stability as a child, then this can lead to them being a mentally healthy and successful adult.

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