| Summary: | Families of remarriage constitute a growing number of
American families. The spiraling divorce rate of the 1970s
was accompanied by a concomitant increase in the number of
remarriages. Forty percent of American families today
contain at least one spouse that has been previously
married, thus studying relationships within families of
remarriage is crucial to understanding the experiences of
both children and adults in American families.
This study uses a life-span perspective to examine the
qualitative accounts of 62 women 43 of whom divorced, spent
some time as a single parent of at least one child, and
remarried and 19 of whom had divorced and did not remarry.
Some of those women also had a remarriage end in divorce.
Both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques
were used to both explore relationships within families of
remarriage, and differences between those women that
remarried and those who remained single parents.
Quantitative analyses revealed that women who did not
remarry were better educated and had more conflict with
their former spouse over time. Women who were younger when
they became a single parent for the first time, had more
children, had jobs rather than careers, and had less
education reported more marriages overall.
Qualitative analyses showed that particular problem
areas in families of remarriage centered around the
adjustment period between the children and the new partner,
finances, and communication. Remarriages that failed were
characterized by problematic relationships between children
and their mother's partner.
As this was predominantly a white, middle-class
sample, generalizations to other populations should be made
with caution. Directions for future research are
discussed. === Graduation date: 1994
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