Interdependency of relationships in stepfamilies – Variation across residence arrangements

This study investigates how the quality of family relationships and children’s residence arrangements are associated with stepparent-child relationship quality. Prior literature has studied these factors separately, with the role of family relationships often studied only among stepfamilies with co-resident children. Little is known about how the relevance of family relationships varies depending on where children reside. The opportunity structure (e.g., contact frequency) within which various family relationships influence each other can differ across residence arrangements. This study, therefore, investigates the roles of multiple family relationships across children’s various residence arrangements - including the more contemporary arrangement of shared residence. Multiple regression analyses with moderation techniques were conducted using the New Families in the Netherlands (NFN) survey, large-scale data collected in 2020 among divorced and separated parents with a minor or (young) adult focal child ( N = 1829). We found for each family dyad (between the biological parent and the focal child, between the biological parent and the stepparent, and between the stepparent and the other biological parent of the focal child) that a high relationship quality was associated with higher stepparent-child relationship quality. Their importance, however, varied across residence arrangements. Poor relationship quality of the biological parent-child dyad and the stepparent-other biological parent dyad was associated with a poor stepparent-child relationship, especially when the focal child was nonresident. Whereas, there was a positive association between the stepcouple relationship and stepparent-child relationship quality primarily for children living full-time with the stepfamily. Altogether, the relationship quality of various family dyads spills over to the stepparent-child dyad - though the extent of this spillover differs depending on the opportunity structure determined by children’s residence.