Your friend, Maggie, is marrying the man of her dreams. He has two children from a previous marriage and, while Maggie has yet to spend much time with them, she's sure the kids are going to love her, and she is going to love them. What cautionary information can you give Maggie about becoming a stepparent?

Stepparenting poses challenges for new marriages. Remarried parents tend to report high levels of tension and conflict about parenting compared with first-married parents. How well adults adjust to the role of step?parent is influenced by the support of the biological parent as well as the children's perception of their relationship with the stepparent and willingness to accept the adult into the family. Positive child communication and a high-quality marriage, as well as social support, predicts positive coping on the part of stepmothers. Stepmothers who perceive a lack of control over parenting practices during visitations are more likely to feel powerlessness, anger, and resentment, which may be manifested in depression. After a challenging transition, many couples adjust to their roles as spouses and parents, and interactions with stepchildren improve. The difficulties that stepparenting entails is one reason that the divorce rate is higher in couples with stepchildren.