Recent empirical findings have confirmed western society's widely accepted presumption that children are at greater risk of abuse in stepfamilies than in their first families. Researchers have explained this finding in terms of interpersonal disturbances, stresses, the sociobiological perspective, and the systems perspective. However, the evidence linking stepfamilies with child physical and sexual abuse has recently been questioned. Some studies have shown no significant personality or social differences in children and youth in step families than in households with natural parents. They have questioned the methodologies of the other studies, including their reliance on evidence from reported cases of child abuse, their lack of attention to the sharp increase in the numbers of stepfamilies in recent decades, and the failure to take into account other variables that might contribute more toward predicting abuse. Therefore, research is needed that will discover the actual incidence of abuse in stepfamilies and first families and the control of factors other than family structure. 31 references.