Exploring Parent–Child Relationships in Alienated versus Neglected/Emotionally Abused Children using the Bene‐Anthony Family Relations Test

Abstract

Children subject to parental alienation dynamics often present with psychological splitting and lack the ambivalence towards their parents which can be observed in other groups of children, even those who are emotionally abused and neglected. This paper used the Bene‐Anthony Family Relations Test to explore differences between alienated and neglected/emotionally abused children's views and feelings towards their mothers and fathers. Results confirmed that alienated children engaged in splitting, idealising their preferred parent and demonising their target parent without legitimate justification. Conversely, neglected/emotionally abused children presented with greater ambivalence, sending both positive and negative messages to their mothers and fathers; although overall in this study, they displayed a tendency to idealise their parents despite the maltreatment that they had suffered. The results highlight the importance of not taking children's expressed wishes at face value and the need for in‐depth multimodal psychological assessments to establish children's ascertainable rather than expressed wishes.‘Explore[s] differences between alienated and neglected/emotionally abused children's views and feelings towards their mothers and fathers’Key Practitioner Messages The Bene‐Anthony Family Relations Test is an invaluable clinical tool for exploring children's feelings about their family relationships. Children's expressed wishes about their parents are paradoxical in cases of both alienation and neglect/emotional abuse. Assessments of children need to identify their ascertainable rather than expressed wishes. This requires a comprehensive multimodal psychological assessment involving all family members, cross‐referencing information from all sources from a longitudinal perspective.