Feeling Caught Between Parents: Adult Children's Relations With Parents and Subjective Well‐Being

Abstract

Research on divorce has found that adolescents' feelings of being caught between parents are linked to internalizing problems and weak parent-child relationships. The present study estimates the effects of marital discord, as well as divorce, on young adult offspring's feelings of being caught in the middle (N ¼ 632). Children with parents in high-conflict marriages were more likely than other children to feel caught between parents. These feelings were associated with lower subjective well-being and poorer quality parent-child relationships. Offspring with divorced parents were no more likely than offspring with continuously married parents in low-conflict relationships to report feeling caught. Feelings of being caught appeared to fade in the decade following parental divorce. These results suggest that, unlike children of divorce, children with parents in conflicted marriages (who do not divorce) may be unable to escape from their parents' marital problems-even into adulthood.

Social Skills, Social Support and Well-Being in Adolescents of Different Family Configurations

“…The well-being of adolescents is an important internal indicator of adjustment after marital separation and/or the remarriage of parents (Amato & Afifi, 2006). This study investigated psychological well-being as conceived by Ryff (1989), which refers to a set of psychological capabilities and resources at the disposal of the individual that are used to address the challenges that occur throughout life.…”

Interparental Conflicts and the Development of Psychopathology in Adolescents and Young Adults

“…The results corroborate not only the previous hypothesis but also the literature. As stated by Amato and Afifi (2006), the fact that children grow up in intact families, even when there are high levels of conflict between the parents, does not save the children from the effects of interparental conflicts, especially since these conflicts also result in damage to the psychological well-being of the children, regardless of their age.…”

“…Authors such as Mota and Matos (2009) refer to the fact that interparental conflict, more than divorce itself, can predict the quality of development, adaptation and resilience in young people, especially since it has been verified that children of divorced parents, which witnessed high levels of interparental conflict, presented a lower resilience capacity compared to those children from intact families with low levels of interparental conflict. Young adults from intact families that witness high levels of interparental conflict are also not immune from problems, feeling many times involved in the conflicts themselves, which can result in damages to their well-being and the quality of their relationship with their parents, this being true for younger and older children (Amato & Afifi, 2006). It has also been verified that parents, during conflicts, put more pressure on their daughters to choose sides, which leads to them being more sensitive to interparental conflicts than male children (Amato & Afifi, 2006).…”

“…Young adults from intact families that witness high levels of interparental conflict are also not immune from problems, feeling many times involved in the conflicts themselves, which can result in damages to their well-being and the quality of their relationship with their parents, this being true for younger and older children (Amato & Afifi, 2006). It has also been verified that parents, during conflicts, put more pressure on their daughters to choose sides, which leads to them being more sensitive to interparental conflicts than male children (Amato & Afifi, 2006). Interparental conflicts which involve physical as well as verbal abuse have negative effects on the emotional, cognitive and social development of the children.…”

Deprivação e a tendência antissocial no adolescente face ao divórcio parental

“…Nesse sentido, o afastamento do pai pode acontecer também por indução das mães, que manipulam os filhos. Esse fenômeno tem sido identificado como SAP (Síndrome de Alienação Parental) ou Padrectomia (Boch-Galhau, 2002;Martinez, 2006). Certamente, em alguns casos, é o pai que se aliena e rejeita a relação posterior com o filho (Johnston, 2003).…”