THE PRESENTATION OF STEPFAMILIES IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY TEXTBOOKS - A REEXAMINATION

Twenty-six introductory marriage and family textbooks were reviewed for content about stepfamilies. Results were compared to a similar review conducted a decade ago. In general, the current texttbooks include more comprehensive material about remarriage and stepfamilies than textbooks a decade ago did Although potential strengths/benefits are briefly mentioned in these texts, the deficit-family model is still present in many of the books. The textbooks contain more sources of stress than potential strength/benefits, and positive outcome variables are ignored in favor of a focus on problems.