Former Stepparents’ Contact With Their Stepchildren After Midlife

Increases in the prevalence of divorce and remarriage that took place over the second half of the past century have resulted in unprecedentedly large numbers of stepparents among current mid- to late-life Americans (Ganong, 2008; Silverstein & Giarrusso, 2010; Stewart, 2007). The growing prominence of stepchildren in older adults’ families is projected to accelerate with the aging of the large Baby-Boom cohorts who experienced particularly high rates of stepfamily formation (Fingerman, Pillemer, Silverstein, & Suitor, 2012; Stewart, 2007; Wachter, 1997) along with relatively low fertility levels (Ganong, 2008; Wachter, 1998). Relative to intact families, obligations between members of stepfamilies are less clearly defined and guidelines for role performance less institutionalized (Silverstein & Giarrusso, 2010; van der Pas & van Tilburg, 2010). This has raised concern among researchers and policy makers that older stepparent–stepchild ties may be significantly weaker and less enduring than older parents’ ties to their biological children (Fingerman et al., 2012; Pezzin, Pollak, & Schone, 2008; Silverstein & Giarrusso, 2010; Wachter, 1997). Indeed, a small but growing body of research on aging stepfamilies indicates that, relative to adult biological children, stepchildren have less contact and worse relationship quality with their stepparents (van der Pas & van Tilburg, 2010; Ward, Spitze, & Deane, 2009), are less likely to provide stepparents with care and financial support (Henretta, Soldo, & Van Voorhis, 2011; Pezzin et al., 2008), have a lower likelihood of coresiding with a stepparent (Pezzin et al., 2008), and are less likely to receive social and financial support from their stepparents (Pruett, Calsyn, & Jensen, 1993). This study contributes to the current debate on the strength of older stepparent–stepchild relations. Based on theoretical insights from the life course perspective and previously established gender differences in stepparental roles, I examine the extent to which stepparent–stepchild ties persist after older stepparents are no longer married to their stepchildren’s biological parent (henceforth referred to as former stepparents). With few exceptions (e.g., Klaus, Nauck, & Steinbach, 2012; Schmeeckle, Giarrusso, Feng, & Bengtson, 2006), prior studies have either focused on older stepparents who are currently married to their stepchildren’s biological parent (e.g., Clawson & Ganong, 2002; Schmeeckle, 2007) or overlooked variation in stepparent–biological parent relationship status (e.g., Coleman, Ganong, & Rothrauff, 2006; van der Pas & van Tilburg, 2010; Ward et al., 2009). By differentiating among older stepparents according to their marital relationship with their stepchildren’s parent, this investigation moves attention to the changing and conditional nature of older stepparents’ ties with their stepchildren. Furthermore, this study expands the literature on aging stepfamilies beyond its current focus on contrasting older adults’ relations to their biological children and stepchildren. I focus on the frequency of social contact between former stepparents and their stepchildren. Intergenerational social contact has been associated with exchanges of support and information between older adults and their children (Grundy & Read, 2012; Mancini & Blieszner, 1989). There is also some evidence that frequency of intergenerational contact constitutes an overall measure of the strength of the older parent–child tie (Cooney & Uhlenberg, 1990) and an indirect indicator of intergenerational solidarity (Bengtson & Roberts, 1991). The purpose of this study is threefold: First, I contrast former and current stepparents’ frequency of contact with their stepchildren. Of particular interest is an examination of whether former widowed and divorced stepparents differ in their contact frequency with their stepchildren. A second purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of duration since (step)parents’ marriage dissolution on former stepparent–stepchild contact. This allows me to determine whether changes in contact frequency following marriage termination take place gradually or abruptly. Finally, I examine the role of four characteristics identified by prior research as having the potential to moderate the relationship between former stepparenthood and contact with stepchildren: (a) the stepchild’s age at (step)parental marriage formation (Ganong & Coleman, 2006a), (b) the duration of (step)parents’ marriage (Aquilino, 2005; Klaus et al., 2012; Orchard & Solberg, 1999; Stewart, 2005), (c) the number of biological children of the stepparent (Orchard & Solberg, 1999; Pruett et al., 1993), and (d) stepparent’s gender (Schmeeckle, 2007). The analyses reported here are based on longitudinal data on stepparent–stepchildren dyads from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) extending over a 10-year period (1998–2008).