Girls have an especially difficult time adjusting to a stepmother. Girls can become entangled in loyalty conflicts between the two mother figures. Noncustodial mothers are more likely to maintain contact with children and frequent visits between mother and daughter are likely to cause increased conflict between stepmother and stepdaughter. In contrast, girls adapt less favorably when custodial mothers remarry. Stepfathers disrupt the close ties many girls establish with their mothers in a single parent family and girls can react to the new marriage with sulky, resistant behavior.
Adolescents find it the most difficult to adjust to the blended family arrangement.
Young adolescents who are dealing with their own growing sexuality and establishing autonomy find the presence of a stranger disruptive. About one third of adolescent boys and one fourth of adolescent girls disengage from their stepfamilies and spend less time at home and more time with friends. The traditional American family has increasingly become a minority in the country. The American family is much more pluralistic. There are fewer children per family unit, more adults who wish to adopt or have no children at all, blended families, families with single parents or same sex parents and foster families.