With the high incidence of divorce and changing patterns of families in the United States, there are increasing numbers of stepfamilies. New stepfamilies face many challenges. As with any achievement, developing good stepfamily relationships requires a lot of effort. Stepfamily members have each experienced losses and face complicated adjustments to the new family situation. When a stepfamily is formed, the members have no shared family histories or shared ways of doing things, and they may have very different beliefs. In addition, a child may feel torn between the parent they live with most (more) of the time and their other parent who they visit (e.g. lives somewhere else). Also, newly married couples may not have had much time together to adjust to their new relationship. The members of the new blended family need to build strong bonds among themselves through:
While facing these issues may be difficult, most stepfamilies do work out their problems. Stepfamilies often use grandparents (or other family), clergy, support groups, and other community-based programs to help with the adjustments. Parents should consider a psychiatric evaluation for their child when they exhibit strong feelings of being:
In addition, if parents observe that the following signs are lasting or persistent, then they should consider a psychiatric evaluation for the child/family:
Child and adolescent psychiatrists are trained and skilled at providing comprehensive psychiatric evaluations of both the child and family. Most stepfamilies, when given the necessary time to work on developing their own traditions and to form new relationships, can provide emotionally rich and lasting relationships for the adults, and help the children develop the self-esteem and strength to enjoy the challenges of life. Additional/related Facts for Families, #24 "Know When to Seek Help for Your Child," #1 Children and Divorce," #52 "Comprehensive Psychiatric Evaluation," #8 "Children and Grief," and #66 "Teens with Stress." Your Child (1998 Harper Collins)/Your Adolescent (1999 Harper Collins) If you find Facts for Families© helpful and would like to make good mental health a reality for all children, click here to donate to the Campaign for America’s Kids. Your support will help us continue to produce and distribute Facts for Families, as well as other vital mental health information, free of charge. You may also mail in your contribution. Please make checks payable to the AACAP and send to Campaign for America’s Kids, P.O. Box 96106, Washington, DC 20090. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) represents over 7,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists who are physicians with at least five years of additional training beyond medical school in general (adult) and child and adolescent psychiatry. Facts for Families© information sheets are developed, owned and distributed by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). Hard copies of Facts sheets may be reproduced for personal or educational use without written permission, but cannot be included in material presented for sale or profit. All Facts can be viewed and printed from the AACAP website (www.aacap.org). Facts sheets many not be reproduced, duplicated or posted on any other Internet website without written consent from AACAP. Organizations are permitted to create links to AACAP’s website and specific Facts sheets. To purchase complete sets of Facts for Families, please contact the AACAP Circulation Clerk at 800.333.7636, ext. 131. Copyright © 2004 by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Please read this disclaimer. [Facts For Families Main Menu] [Spanish] [French] About AACAP | What's New? | Members Only | Facts for Families Press Releases | Legislation | Meetings | Journal & Publications | Award Opportunities Clinical Practice | Research | Training | Regional Organizations Membership | JobSource | Resource Links |