Stepmothers: Why so much stress? A review of the research

Abstract

Recent psychological and sociological literature is reviewed in answering two questions: What factors generally affect how much stress women encounter as stepmothers? Why do stepmothers often experience more stress than stepfathers? The answers seem to lie in four areas: (1) our society's attitudes about mothers and motherhood; (2) the mother's and stepmother's personalities, attitudes, and circumstances; (3) the father's attitudes and his relationship with the mother; and (4) the stepchildren's gender and mental health.