The Characteristics and Well‐Being of Adopted Stepchildren

• Author: Susan D. Stewart
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00623.x
• Published date: 01 December 2010
• Date: 01 December 2010

SUSAN D. STEWART Iowa State University

The Characteristics and Well-Being of Adopted

Stepchildren

This study draws upon 22,680 children from

the 2002 National Survey of America’s Fam-

ilies to investigate the demographic and fam-

ily characteristics and well-being of stepchil-

dren who have been adopted by a stepparent

(n=140) relative to children with 2 biologi-

cal parents, children with 2 adoptive parents,

and children with 1 biological parent and 1

nonadoptive stepparent. Five percent of all

stepchildren and one quarter of all adopted

children have been adopted by a stepparent.

How the characteristics of adopted stepchildren

compare to those of other children depends

on the child’s age—whereas younger adopted

stepchildren are most similar to children with

2 biological parents, older adopted stepchildren

are most similar to nonadopted stepchildren.

Adopted stepchildren of all ages have signifi-

cantly more behavior and emotional problems

than children with 2 biological parents, but have

similar levels of school engagement. There were

no significant differences between children with

2 adoptive parents, nonadopted stepchildren,

and adopted stepchildren on any measure of

well-being regardless of the child’s age. Implica-

tions for practice and policy include increasing

awareness of adopted stepchildren and pay-

ing greater attention to the legal context under

which stepchildren are adopted.

The Department of Sociology, Iowa State University,

102East Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1070 (stewarts@iastate.edu).

Key Words: adopted children, adopted stepchildren,

adoption, stepchildren, stepfamilies.

Although the exact numbers are unclear, the

adoption of a stepchild by a stepparent is

thought to be one of the most common forms of

adoption in the United States (Child Welfare

Information Gateway, 2008; National Adop-

tion Information Clearinghouse [NAIC], 2006)

and Europe (Ball, 2002; Loftus, 2003). Yet,

very little is known about adopted stepchildren

(Chambers, 1990; Fisher, 2003; Ganong, Cole-

man, Fine, & McDaniel, 1998). One reason

is the inconsistent handling of these children

by researchers. Although some studies placed

adopted stepchildren in the same category as

biological and/or adopted children (Bray &

Berger, 1993; Stewart, 2001), other researchers

treat adopted stepchildren just as they would

treat stepchildren (Hamilton, Cheng, & Powell,

2007; Moorman & Hernandez, 1989; Norton &

Miller, 1992). Still, others treat the adoption of

stepchildren as ‘‘special case’’ within the step-

family (Ganong et al.) and adoption (Appell,

2000; Feigelman, 1997; Fisher) literatures or are

vague as to how they were handled in the analysis

(Cebello, Lansford, Abbey, & Stewart, 2004).

Another reason for the lack of information on

adopted stepchildren is that there are no specific

estimates of this practice. Government reports do

not distinguish children adopted by stepparents

from children adopted by relatives, also referred

to as ‘‘kin adoption’’ (Kreider, 2003). Rela-

tive adoptions are estimated to represent about

40% of all adoptions nationally, and adopted

stepchildren are thought to make up the largest

percentage of that (Flango & Flango, 1994, cited

in Adoption Statistics, 2006). Relative adoptions

have been rising in recent years, and researchers

558 Family Relations 59 (December 2010): 558– 571

DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00623.x