1. Introduction
It has long been accepted that the social and economic well being of adults is determined principally by their passage through childhood and that, to put it concisely, "healthy children emerge most often from healthy families (Ross, Scott and Kelly 1996, p. 15)." Creating the stability, emotional warmth and security of a healthy family environment is a challenge to parents at the best of times, but to do so in the current situation of family disruption and reconstitution is even more so. Thirty years ago, the arrival of another child was the only major change in family composition for the vast majority of children. In contrast, of the children aged 0-11 years at the first wave (1994-95) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), almost a quarter were living with a lone parent or in a stepfamily, and had therefore experienced radical changes in the family group; given the growing precocity of family disruption among the youngest generations covered by the survey (Marcil-Gratton 1998), family life experiences are likely to become increasingly diverse in future waves of the survey. Some families adjust more successfully to these disturbances than others, and research into the elements fostering positive family adaptation is essential.
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