Stepfamilies are the fastest growing family form in the country. Although clinicians note the need for different family patterns for stepfamilies, those differences have not been identified and empirically tested. The predominance of literature on the subject has been problem focused: Research has often been based on families in treatment or has assessed differences in stepfamilies as problematic. In this exploratory research, well–functioning stepfamilies were interviewed in their homes, themes common to and different from biologically based families were noted, and differences from families in treatment were assessed. A further purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of standardized family-functioning measures on this population.
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