%0 Journal Article
%T Cementing the Stepfamily? Biological and Stepparents¡¯ Relationship Satisfaction After the Birth of a Common Child in Stepfamilies
%A Katya Ivanova
%A Nicoletta Balbo
%J Journal of Family Issues
%@ 1552-5481
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0192513X19836456
%X This article studies the relationship between having a common child in stepfamilies and partners¡¯ relationship satisfaction. Previous works have primarily looked at children¡¯s adjustment in stepfamilies and have cautioned against seeing a common offspring as a way to ¡°cement¡± the partnership because the addition of a shared child does not benefit the child from an earlier union. We used seven waves of the German ¡°Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics¡± to examine the relationship satisfaction of partners in a stepfamily and its association with the potential birth of a common child. After controlling for initial relationship satisfaction, we see that having a common child is linked to higher satisfaction over time. Interestingly, for those whose common child is between 1 and 3 years old, we saw temporarily lower relationship satisfaction, which was less pronounced for the partner who was a stepparent in the context of the union
%K common child
%K fertility
%K relationship satisfaction
%K stepfamily
%K (step)parent
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0192513X19836456