Transformations in Family Relations at Puberty

Abstract

Previous research has identified transformations in family relationships that occur during early adolescence in part as a function of the child's pubertal development. A longitudinal, multimethod, multimeasure study of family adjustment to remarriage was conducted to examine how these transformations might be altered as a function of concomitant adjustment to family reorganization in single-mother and stepfamily homes. It was found that transformations described in previous research applied only to nondivorced biological families. Dimensions of family relationships were not associated with pubertal status in divorced, single-mother families, with the exception of monitoring of daughters' behavior. During the early months following remarriage, associations of family relationships with pubertal status were opposite to that found for nondivorced families, indicating that parental remarriage may be most difficult for boys just prior to the onset of puberty. Over the two-year adjustment to remarriage, transformations in family relations resembled those of nondivorced families.