Graduation Semester and Year
Spring 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Social Work
Department
Social Work
First Advisor
De'an O. Roper
Second Advisor
Jennifer Murphy
Third Advisor
Dianna R. Jones
Abstract
Adolescents growing up in blended families are at a higher risk of experiencing emotional and mental health challenges compared to adolescents growing up in nuclear families. This thesis examines this impact as adolescents transition into adulthood. This narrative review gathered data from articles published from 2019 to 2024 in the United States that were archived in the Family Studies Abstracts database. The findings primarily concerned romantic and parent-teen relationships, effects that began and lingered after adolescence, exposure to violence, and lack of intimacy and security. The implications of this research are that future investigations are needed to better understand the adolescents’ lived experiences. Policy and social work practice implications were also discussed.
Keywords
step-families, blended families, adolescents, transitioning to adulthood, literature review
Disciplines
Development Studies
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Evans, gerald K. and Evans-Mayner, Gerald Kevin, "GROWING UP IN A BLENDED FAMILY: A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH IMPACT" (2025). Social Work Theses. 213.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/socialwork_theses/213
Comments
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