Cognitive correlates of adjustment for mothers and stepfathers in stepfather families

Abstract: This study relates three types of cognitions--ambiguity of the stepfather role, an optimistic perspective on stepfamilies, and myths about stepfamilies--to two areas of satisfaction, namely, (step)parent-child relationships and family/ marital/personal life. Subjects were 27 mothers and 27 stepfathers who were married to each other about three years. Compared to stepfathers, mothers had a more optimistic perspective on stepfamilies, were less likely to endorse myths regarding step families, and reported greater satisfaction with (step)parent-child relationships. Generally, cognitions were related to family/marital/ personal life satisfaction for mothers and to satisfaction with stepparent-child relationships for fathers. stepfamilies | parenting | parent-child relationships | domestic relations | stepfathers | Keywords: stepmothers Article: This study relates three types of cognitions--ambiguity of the stepfather role, an optimistic perspective on stepfamilies, and myths about stepfamilies--to two areas of satisfaction, namely, (step)parent-child relationships and family/ marital/ personal life. Subjects were 27 mothers and 27 stepfathers who were married to each other about three years. Compared to stepfathers, mothers had a more optimistic perspective on stepfamilies, were less likely to endorse myths regarding stepfamilies, and reported greater satisfaction with (step)parent-child relationships. Generally, cognitions were related to family/ marital/ personal life satisfaction for mothers and to satisfaction with stepparent-child relationships for fathers. Because divorce rates for persons remarried after a divorce are somewhat higher than those of persons married for the first time The focus of this study is on cognitions (e.g., perceptions, assumptions, beliefs, and explanations) specific to stepfather families and the relation between these cognitions and the satisfaction with life in a stepfamily for both spouses in stepfather families. Not only have cognitions been found to be related to individual adjustment (e.g., Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery, 1979), but they have also been linked to the development and maintenance of marital satisfaction (e.g., Kurdek, 1991). Two related theories underscore the importance of cognitions in mediating satisfaction. The first theory has an intrapersonal focus and posits that dysfunctional emotional and behavioral responses are related to appraisals of life events that are invalid or are based on unreasonable standards The second theory has an interpersonal focus and posits that cognitions are a critical component in the sequential flow of behavioral interactions. In their contextual model of marriage, Given the general importance of cognitions for satisfaction as discussed above, three kinds of cognitions specific to stepfather families are of interest in this study. These include perceptions of the ambiguity of the stepfather role, an optimistic perspective on life in a stepfather family, and myths regarding the functioning of stepfather families. Although the importance of these particular cognitions has been emphasized in the clinical stepfamily literature (e.g., Ambiguity regarding the stepfather role is of interest because it has been described as the core difficulty encountered by most stepfather families (Fine and Schwebel, in press; Giles-Sims, 1987). According to literature in the field of organizational psychology, role ambiguity includes uncertainty about the scope of one's responsibilities, uncertainty about the particular behaviors needed to fulfill one's responsibilities, uncertainty about whose expectations for role behavior must be met, and uncertainty about the effects of one's actions on the well-being of oneself and of others An optimistic perspective on stepfamily living is of interest because such a general outlook might act as a buffer against some of the stresses experienced in stepfamilies Finally, myths regarding stepfamily living are of interest in light of general findings and clinical observations that dysfunctional beliefs are negatively related to adjustment Because previous studies have found that persons in first marriages and remarriages differ in their evaluations of some aspects of their lives (e.g., family relationships) but not in others (e.g., marital interactions) Given limited information on cognitions and satisfaction in stepfather families, the first purpose of this study is to assess differences between mothers and stepfathers on cognitions and satisfaction. Differences on these variables are of interest for two reasons. First, because there is consistent evidence of gender specialization in families in the areas of marriage, family life, and parenthood The second purpose of this study is to assess the relation between cognition and satisfaction. Care was taken so that the content of the cognition measures did not overlap with that of the satisfaction measures (cf. METHOD Subjects Subjects were obtained from participants in an ongoing longitudinal study of relationship quality in newlyweds who were recruited from lists of marriage licenses published in a local newspaper (see All respondents were white. Mean ages for mothers and stepfathers were 34.74 and 36.88, respectively. On the average, both spouses had some college. Eighty-four percent of the mothers and 96% of the fathers were working. On the average, mothers earned between $15,000 to$19,999, while stepfathers earned between $25,000 and$29,999. Spouses had lived together a mean of 42.85 months and had been married a mean of 37.44 months. Twenty-one of the couples were stepfather only families, 5 were couples in which mothers' children resided with a child born to the couple, and I included both a stepmother and a stepfather. [1] There was a total of 42 stepchildren (22 boys, 20 girls), with a mean age of 12.11 years. All stepchildren lived with their mother and stepfather on a full-time basis. With regard to marital history, 8 stepfathers were married for the first time, 14 had been divorced once, and 5 were divorced more than once. Twenty-one mothers were divorced once, and 6 were divorced more than once. Background Informatio

Reflections on determining authorship credit and authorship order on faculty-student collaborations

The purpose of this article is to explore the process of determining authorship credit and authorship order on collaborative publications with students. The article presents hypothetical cases that describe relevant ethical issues, highlights ethical principles that could provide assistance in addressing these dilemmas, and makes recommendations to faculty who collaborate with students on scholarly projects. It is proposed that authorship credit and order decisions should be based on the relative scholarly abilities and professional contributions of the collaborators. Furthermore, it is recommended that both faculty and students participate in the authorship decision-making process early in the collaborative endeavor