ABSTRACT
T H I S C H A P T E R is concerned with the transition of parental remarriage and its implications for children's well-being. We start by examining adolescent adjustment in remarried families, focusing on externalizing, which includes acting out, antisocial behavior, noncompliance, and aggression. Consistent with many other studies of remarriage, we demonstrate that adolescents living in stepfamilies are at higher risk for these problematic behaviors than those living in nondivorced households.1 We then examine possible reasons for why the higher levels of externalizing occur in stepchildren, including the role of stressful life events for adolescents and the quality of family relationships. A major theme from these analyses is the reciprocal relation between adolescent adjustment and family process measures. Said another way, adolescents in stepfamilies are important products of and contributors to the stepfamily experience.
