The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children

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dc.contributor.advisorDawes, Andrewen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorSaayman, Grahamen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPrice, Ruth Nanetteen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-25T17:08:20Z
dc.date.available2015-10-25T17:08:20Z
dc.date.issued1987en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: leaves 119-127.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractRelatively few studies have examined the difficulties of the stepmother, but research suggests that compared to other stepparents, stepmothers without their own children have the most difficult task. This preliminary study describes the difficulties of the stepmother by comparing two groups of stepmothers; those who have no experience of their own children, with those who have children of their own, either from a previous marriage or from their present marriage, or from both. A convenience sample of thirty-one volunteers, who are full-time stepmothers, constituted the sample. Subjects were limited to white middle class South Africans. A two-part, semi-structured interview was conducted on each subject: Part one consisted of open-ended questions intended to provide an overall view of the particular circumstances of the stepmother. Part two consisted of information elicited by means of psychometric testing. The McMaster Family Assessment Device is used to assess the family functioning and thereby investigate the difficulties of the stepmothers. The Rutter Child Behaviour Questionnaire is used to determine the range of behaviours with which the stepmother might need to cope. Information regarding the stepmother's early childhood relationships is elicited by means of the Adult Family Relations Test. After the interviews and tests had been scored. the subjects were divided into two groups: One comprised of twelve stepmothers who had had no experience of mothering prior to their stepmother status; the other comprised of 19 stepmothers who had either one or two children of their own. Statistical analysis was conducted on the scores derived from The Rutter Child Behavior Questionnaire (t-test) and The McMaster Family Assessment Device (Hotellings Tz). The Family Relations Test was analysed by means of percentages and standard deviations. The demographic details were presented as percentages, and where applicable. Chi squared tests were conducted. Findings suggest that stepfamily functioning in the situation where the stepmother has no children of her own is different and less healthy from that in the family where the stepmother has children of her own. These results are largely consistent with the literature, but as regards the actual difficulties that contributed to the differences between these groups,findings remain tentative.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationPrice, R. N. (1987). <i>The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14322en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationPrice, Ruth Nanette. <i>"The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14322en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationPrice, R. 1987. The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Price, Ruth Nanette AB - Relatively few studies have examined the difficulties of the stepmother, but research suggests that compared to other stepparents, stepmothers without their own children have the most difficult task. This preliminary study describes the difficulties of the stepmother by comparing two groups of stepmothers; those who have no experience of their own children, with those who have children of their own, either from a previous marriage or from their present marriage, or from both. A convenience sample of thirty-one volunteers, who are full-time stepmothers, constituted the sample. Subjects were limited to white middle class South Africans. A two-part, semi-structured interview was conducted on each subject: Part one consisted of open-ended questions intended to provide an overall view of the particular circumstances of the stepmother. Part two consisted of information elicited by means of psychometric testing. The McMaster Family Assessment Device is used to assess the family functioning and thereby investigate the difficulties of the stepmothers. The Rutter Child Behaviour Questionnaire is used to determine the range of behaviours with which the stepmother might need to cope. Information regarding the stepmother's early childhood relationships is elicited by means of the Adult Family Relations Test. After the interviews and tests had been scored. the subjects were divided into two groups: One comprised of twelve stepmothers who had had no experience of mothering prior to their stepmother status; the other comprised of 19 stepmothers who had either one or two children of their own. Statistical analysis was conducted on the scores derived from The Rutter Child Behavior Questionnaire (t-test) and The McMaster Family Assessment Device (Hotellings Tz). The Family Relations Test was analysed by means of percentages and standard deviations. The demographic details were presented as percentages, and where applicable. Chi squared tests were conducted. Findings suggest that stepfamily functioning in the situation where the stepmother has no children of her own is different and less healthy from that in the family where the stepmother has children of her own. These results are largely consistent with the literature, but as regards the actual difficulties that contributed to the differences between these groups,findings remain tentative. DA - 1987 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1987 T1 - The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children TI - The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14322 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14322
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationPrice RN. The difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own children. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 1987 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14322en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherClinical Psychologyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherStepmothersen_ZA
dc.titleThe difficulties of stepmotherhood : a comparison between stepmothers who have no children of their own and stepmothers who have their own childrenen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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