Bewust alleenstaande moeders: ouder-kind relaties, sociale steun netwerken en het welzijn van hun kinderen Een vergelijkend onderzoek naar familiestructuur en familieprocessen

This study made a comparison between families of single mothers by choice (SMC) and heterosexual two parent families. 69 mothers from SMC families and 59 mothers from two parent families with at least one child between the ages of one and a half and six participated in the study. Mothers filled out questionnaires about the parent child relationship (emotional involvement and parental stress), the relationship of the parent with the environment (social support) and the psychological wellbeing of children. Differences were found for social support between family types with SMC receiving and wanting more social support than mothers from two parent families. No differences were found for emotional involvement or parental stress. Children’s psychological wellbeing didn’t differ between family types. Findings revealed that differences in family structure do not influence children’s psychological wellbeing.