Stepchildren who view former stepparents as family maintain relationships after divorce

When stepfamilies dissolve after a divorce, little is known about the relationships between former stepparents and stepchildren. Now, researchers have found that stepchildren's views of former stepparents depended on emotional reactions to the divorce, patterns of support or resource exchanges, and parental encouragement or discouragement to continue step-relationships. Whether stepchildren maintained relationships with their former stepparents largely depended on whether stepchildren viewed their former stepparents as family.

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