Antecedentes temáticos de la investigación

Some students lived with both biological parents, while others lived in single-parent households, with stepfamilies, or shared their time equally between separated parents. Students lived with siblings and/or step-siblings, or were only-children. Also, some students had regular contact with their grandparents, while others rarely or never saw them. Correspondingly, some students reported challenges that were unique to their family structure.

Two-Parent Households

Nine boys and seven girls indicated that they lived in two-parent households. The only stressor reported by the students that was specific to two-parent households was:

C. Ronaldo: They win, but it’s their house.

Jonah: Yeah, two against one.

Single-Parent Households

Three girls indicated that they lived in a single-parent household, but Clair was the only student who talked specifically about this. She spent half of her time with each parent, and was

67

responsible for some roles in each household. Clair prioritised her family responsibilities over other commitments (e.g., homework), and this may have generated additional pressure. As argued by Beausang et al. (2012), some adolescents who live in single-parent households need to undertake more household roles and assume more responsibilities than adolescents who live in households with more than one adult, especially when sole parents are employed.

Separated Parents

Ten girls and three boys disclosed that their parents were separated or divorced. Seven girls and two boys lived with their mothers, one girl and one boy lived with their fathers, and two girls spent “50/50” of their time with each parent.

Seven students said that they regularly saw their noncustodial parent, whereas four students said they never or rarely saw their noncustodial parent. Matt disclosed that it was “quite hard kinda”, because his father lived in another country. Contrastingly, Sora disclosed that her father was “not even allowed near us” but said that she saw him regardless. Consequently, Sora may have experienced stress associated with possible repercussions of contacting him. Less access to noncustodial parents (usually fathers) is common when parents separate (Wolchik, Schenck, & Sandler, 2009), and it may be stressful for young people when they lose daily contact with their noncustodial parent (Beausang et al., 2012).

Botswana talked about the inconvenience of moving between households:

Botswana: It’s really stressful when you have ... half your clothes at Mum’s and half your clothes at Dad’s. ... Sometimes you forget stuff and Mum doesn’t want to drive back to Dad’s.

Adolescent stress associated with transferring belongings between households has been identified in previous studies (e.g., Beausang et al., 2012). Also, adolescents who frequently spend time with each parent need to regularly transition between households, which may involve ongoing adjustment to different family types, and can be a source of stress for some adolescents (Beausang et al., 2012). Although this was not discussed in the present study, perhaps this was an additional source of stress for some of the students.

Three girls talked about conflict between their separated parents. For example, Kakabera talked about financial contention between her parents, and Clair said that “it is sort of hard for me to try and make them communicate properly”. Conflict between separated parents is one of the most harmful aspects of parental separation experienced by children (Wolchik et al., 2009), and perhaps

68

conflict between separated parents has a greater impact on adolescents when they have regular contact with each parent. Correspondingly, this may have factored into Clair’s efforts to improve the relationship between her parents.

Most of the girls at School A with separated parents talked about why their parents were no longer together. It seemed important to them to understand why, but this may have contributed to negative views of their noncustodial parents, as indicated by Safushia Strawberry who said “my Dad isn’t really a nice person”. However, not knowing why their parents had separated may have also contributed to negative views of noncustodial parents. For instance:

Kakabera: I was like to her “you care more about your boyfriend than you

care about me” and then I just started saying “why would you move away with your boyfriend when you have children in Wellington”.

Perhaps parents do not tell adolescents why they separated because they do not want to upset them. However, not knowing may be equally stressful. As revealed in Beausang et al.’s (2012) study with young people aged 10 and 11 years in Britain, most of the participants were not fully aware of the details of their parents’ separation, and this may be similar for adolescents in New Zealand.

Stepfamilies

Three students indicated that they had step-families and talked about stress associated with their family structure. Kakabera said her stepfather and brother “don’t get along at all”. Sarah said that she did not like the people that her father lived with (assumed to be her stepfamily), and Matt said that he did not like his stepfamily “in general” because “they don’t know how to think properly”. Stepfamilies and blended families can be complex (Beausang et al., 2012), and perhaps the negativity expressed by Sarah and Matt was because they had not adjusted to their family situations. Alternatively, they may have wanted their biological parents to be together, and this may have contributed to negative thoughts and interactions with their stepfamilies.

Siblings

All of the students disclosed that they had siblings or step-siblings, but some siblings did not live in the same household as the students.

69

Aside from stress associated with arguments with siblings, and siblings’ demands and expectations (discussed below), Danni at School A and five girls at School B talked about stressors associated with their brothers and/or sisters:

Danni: I never really used to spend time with my Dad ... because my

[older] sister would be there and lots of dramas would happen.

Scarlet: It was Halloween. I couldn’t go with them [friends] because I

had to go with my [younger] sister and they didn’t want to go with my sister. So I got really grumpy and I swore a few times.

Niomi: And she called me a bitch and all that.

Patricia: They [younger brothers] like to get cheeky.

Bubbles: And then you get told off for telling them off. … Cos they’re

little kids and you should know better.

Danni and Scarlet’s disclosures demonstrate how adolescents can experience stress when siblings interfere and cause conflict in relationships with family and friends. Contrastingly, Patricia and Bubbles’s disclosures suggest impatience with their younger siblings’ immaturity. As argued by Waite, Shanahan, Calkins, Keane, and O'Brien (2011), the degree of closeness between siblings may decline during adolescence.

Also, Cleo reported that it can be stressful being in a big family. Cleo was the youngest girl in her family and may have had less control than her older siblings.

Only-Children

Fulishia Frangipani and Safushia Strawberry talked about stressors associated with being only- children:

Fulishia Frangipani: You have to do all the chores by yourself.

Safushia Strawberry: A lot of people … think that I’m spoilt. … You’re anything but spoilt.

70

Fulishia Frangipani: I don’t like being an only-child. It’s lonely.

Safushia Strawberry: You go to text a friend or something that has got some siblings and stuff and then they won’t answer because they’ve got other stuff to do, and it’s like, well I don’t have anything to do. Fulishia Frangipani’s disclosure about “chores” illustrates how only-children may have more responsibilities and different stressors than adolescents who lived with siblings. Contrastingly, adolescents want to be viewed positively by others (Seiffge-Krenke, 2011), and stress experienced by Safushia Strawberry when peers said that she was “spoilt” may have been because they made negative assumptions about her. Furthermore, Safushia Strawberry’s disclosure about loneliness is consistent with Besevegis and Galanaki’s (2010) argument that individuals may experience stress when they are alone, because they may feel isolated from others. Loneliness may be experienced more often by adolescents and young adults than other age groups (Salimi & Bozorgpour, 2012), and perhaps adolescents’ reliance on friendship networks contributes to feelings of loneliness when adolescents are isolated from their friends.