The influence of big brothers on the separation-individuation of adolescents from single-parent families

The separation-individuation process involving children and their mothers is facilitated by fathers. Divorce complicates this process. This study investigated whether substitute father figures can aid male adolescents from single-parent families with separation-individuation. Twenty-nine adolescents matched to Big Brothers were compared with two control groups (adolescents from single-parent families without Big Brothers and those from intact families) on relevant variables. Findings indicated that the adolescents with Big Brothers were less affected by parental rejection than were adolescents in the two control groups. They also appeared to have healthier narcissism than did adolescents from single-parent families without Big Brothers, but were more anxious when relating to male teachers than were adolescents from intact families.