The study of the family climate of one-parent families may lead to a better comprehension of family relationships and increased understanding of the family's basic organizational structure. To examine the difference between married and single-parent families, parents single for 3 years or less (N=29), parents single for 4 years or more (N=28), and married parents (N=16) completed the Family Environment Scale and a family information sheet. Analyses of the data revealed that while emphasis on such things as direct expressiveness of feelings and moral and religious beliefs and practices differed for the three groups, the differences were not statistically significant. Comparison of the three family groups to findings of studies on normal and distressed families showed that all three of the family samples were normal, rather than distressed, families. Identifying and studying functional one-parent families as a distinctive family form appears to be an important implication for future research. (Author/PAS)