Final answer:
The false statement with respect to remarriage is that younger children tend to have more difficulty adjusting than older children. Research suggests various challenges across different age groups and the adjustment varies widely between individuals and circumstances.
Step-by-step explanation:
With respect to remarriage, the statement that 'younger children tend to have more difficulty adjusting to remarriage than older children' is generally false. Studies indicate that school-aged children and teenagers have significant difficulties with their parents' divorce and remarriage. School-aged children are old enough to understand the separation but not the reasoning behind it, which can be particularly distressful, and teenagers may feel pressured to choose sides in the conflict (Temke 2006). On the contrary, infants and preschool-age children may suffer due to the loss of routine, but not necessarily more than older children (Temke 2006).
In addition, girls may not universally have a harder time adjusting to remarriage than boys; individual responses to family changes vary widely and can depend on multiple factors, including the dynamics of the new stepfamily and the level of interpersonal conflict within the household (McLanahan and Sandefur 1994). Moreover, while adolescents in stepfamilies might face challenges due in part to a 'double dose of conflict', with conflicts potentially arising from both sides of the blended family in addition to any ongoing issues with biological parents, the presence of conflict in stepfamilies is not always greater than in first-marriage families.
The research by Amato (2000) and McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) suggests that the stressors associated with divorce and remarriage can have far-reaching effects, and the challenges children face in stepfamilies should not be underestimated.