Psychology Commons^™

Patterns Of Courtship For Remarriage: Implications For Child Adjustment And Parent-Child Relationships, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Edward R. Anderson, Mavis E. Hetherington, Glenn W. Clingempeel

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Most children who experience their parents' divorce also experience their custodial parent's remarriage. However, research has not addressed how patterns of courtship for remarriage influence the developing child and his or her relationships in the new family. This longitudinal study focuses on 57 remarried, stepfather families with a target child aged 9 to 13, using multimethod, multi-informant measures of child adjustment and parent-child relationships. Comparisons were made to determine whether the custodial mother's number of dating partners, remarriage courtship length, or the timing and sequence of typical courtship stages affected the child's adjustment and his or her relationships with the …