A Family Affair: Examining the Impact of Parental Infidelity on Children Using a Structural Family Therapy Framework

Negash, Sesen; Morgan, Martha L.

doi:10.1007/s10591-015-9364-4

Cited by 21 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Related research on parental infidelity within intact families suggests that adult children avoid discussing information about their parents' infidelity (i.e., they enact rigid boundaries) to maintain family harmony (Thorson, 2009). In contrast, families that experience parental divorce after infidelity may enact diffused boundaries (i.e., Negash & Morgan, 2016) or have more opportunities to talk openly about the reasons for parental divorce (e.g., parental infidelity). However, the findings from this study suggest that parents' marital status does not influence the types of boundary rules that parents use in this context, suggesting that children's experiences with feeling caught, rumination, and well‐being are more consistent across family forms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specific to parental infidelity, Thorson (2014) found that mothers and fathers often involve their adult children in their disagreements after the discovery of parental infidelity. Similarly, Negash and Morgan (2016) discussed how families' communication surrounding parental infidelity may increase the potential for children to feel caught in this context. Combined, these studies support the notion that parental infidelity, the communication surrounding it, and subsequent outcomes are not limited to the parental dyad.…”

Section: Family Systems Theory Parental Infidelity and Feeling Caughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emerging Ideas. Rumination's Mediating Effect on Feeling Caught and Well‐Being After Parental Infidelity

Thorson

2020

Family Relations

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Objective This brief exploratory study, guided by family systems theory, examined whether rumination mediated the relationship between adult children's experience of triangulation (i.e., feeling caught) and well‐being after parental infidelity. Results On the basis of responses from 215 adult children whose parents engaged in infidelity, adult children's well‐being and their feelings of being caught between parents was mediated by rumination. Moreover, the relationship between these variables was not conditional on whether adult children's parents divorced or remained married after infidelity. Implications These findings provide an initial understanding of the impact of parental infidelity on adult children. Further, they suggest that future research should examine family discourses that promote or mitigate rumination because family interactions greatly influence offspring's experiences with this transgression.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Family Systems Theory Parental Infidelity and Feeling Caughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Ideas. Rumination's Mediating Effect on Feeling Caught and Well‐Being After Parental Infidelity

Thorson

2020

Family Relations

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“…These intense emotions need space and time to be expressed and processed, which is more difficult for couples who have children in the home because they fear that their children will overhear them (Weiner‐Davis, 2020). Research highlights the importance of protecting children from the negative consequences of parental infidelity (Negash & Morgan, 2016), leading many couples to desire to keep the affair a secret, which may be more difficult to do during the pandemic. In addition, the common ways that they would get alone time and space from their partner (e.g., going to work, going to a friend's house) without drawing their children's attention to it are more limited and couples may be forced to spend more time together or risk disclosing their marital struggles to their children (Weiner‐Davis, 2020).…”

Section: Covid‐19's Impact On Affair Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lack Of Privacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Infidelity in the Time of COVID‐19

Mitchell

2020

Family Process

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Infidelity occurs in approximately 25% of marriages and is associated with various negative consequences for individuals (e.g., depression, anxiety, and post‐traumatic stress), the couple relationship (e.g., financial loss, increased conflict, and aggression), and the couple's children (e.g., internalizing and externalizing behaviors). Infidelity is also one of the most frequently cited reasons for divorce. The increased stress brought on by the pandemic may be putting couples at an increased risk for experiencing infidelity, and data collected during the pandemic have shown that people across the United States are engaging in behaviors that are associated with a high likelihood of experiencing infidelity. The negative consequences of infidelity are also likely to be exacerbated for couples during the pandemic due to the intersection with the social, emotional, and financial consequences of COVID‐19. Furthermore, couples are likely to experience disruptions and delays to the affair recovery process during the pandemic, which can negatively impact their ability to heal. Therefore, recommendations for navigating affair recovery during the pandemic, including adaptations for therapy, are also discussed.

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“…For example, parents that are not able to cope successfully with extradyadic behaviors are likely to expose their children to increase conflict (Blodgett-Salafia et al, 2013), and to trauma and grief like symptoms (Dean, 2011). In addition, extradyadic behaviors can lead to guilt, worry, fear, aggression, depression, and anxiety in children (Lusterman, 2005;Ablow et al, 2009;Negash and Morgan, 2015). Furthermore, the involvement in extradyadic behaviors are a major cause of seeking couples therapy and poses strong challenges for treatment (Gordon et al, 2004;Atkins et al, 2005Atkins et al, , 2010Marín et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extradyadic Behaviors and Gender: How Do They Relate With Sexual Desire, Relationship Quality, and Attractiveness

2020

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Recent years have seen an increasing number of studies on relationship extradyadic behaviors (Pinto and Arantes, 2016; Pazhoohi et al., 2017; Silva et al., 2017; Fisher, 2018). However, much is still to learn about the impact of these extradyadic behaviors on subsequent relationships that an individual may have. Our main goal was to study the association between past extradyadic behaviors-inflicted and suffered-and current relationship quality, sexual desire and attractiveness. Specifically, we aimed to: (i) Understand if past extradyadic behaviors are related to current relationship quality, sexual desire, and self-perceived and partner's attractiveness; (ii) Identify possible gender differences in these variables. For that, 364 participants (251 females and 113 males) were recruited through personal and institutional e-mails, online social networks (e.g., Facebook), and the website of the Evolutionary Psychology Group from the University of Minho. All participants completed a demographic and relationship questionnaire, followed by questions related to extradyadic behaviors and self-perceived attractiveness, the Perceived Relationship Quality Components (PRQC) Inventory, the Sex Drive Scale (SDQ), and the Importance of Partner's Physical Attractiveness Scale (IPPAS). For those currently involved in a relationship, results suggested that extradyadic behaviors (both suffered or inflicted) are linked with current low relationship quality and high sexual desire in the present. In addition, individuals who perceived themselves as being more attractive tended to have a higher sexual desire and higher relationship quality. Overall, men reported higher levels of extradyadic behaviors and sexual desire, gave more importance to physical attractiveness, and perceived their current relationship as having less quality than women. These results add to the literature by focusing on different variables that play an important role in romantic relationships, and have important implications.

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A Family Affair: Examining the Impact of Parental Infidelity on Children Using a Structural Family Therapy Framework

Cited by 21 publications

References 54 publications

Emerging Ideas. Rumination's Mediating Effect on Feeling Caught and Well‐Being After Parental Infidelity

Emerging Ideas. Rumination's Mediating Effect on Feeling Caught and Well‐Being After Parental Infidelity

Infidelity in the Time of COVID‐19

Extradyadic Behaviors and Gender: How Do They Relate With Sexual Desire, Relationship Quality, and Attractiveness

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