The Effects of Parentification of Early Adult Non-disabled Siblings on Ambivalence over Emotional Expression and Moderating Effects of Rejection Sensitivity

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of parentification on ambivalence over the emotional expression of early adults who had a sibling with disabilities and examined if rejection sensitivity moderated the relationship of parentification and ambivalence over emotional expression. Participants consisted of 116 siblings in early adulthood who had a sibling with disabilities (45 male; 71 female). The data were collected from 13 centers for family disability, four community rehabilitation centers, three parent societies for people with disabilities, and three self-help groups in Seoul, Busan, and Gyeonggi province. The levels of ambivalence over emotional expression, parentification, and rejecton sensitivity were measured by the Ambivalence over Emotional Expression Questionnaire (King & Emmons, 1990), the Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult (Jurkovic, Thirkield, & Morrell, 2001), and the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey & Feldman, 1996), respectively. The PROCESS Macro program examined the moderating model. The Results indicated that both levels of parentification and rejection sensitivity increased the level of ambivalence over emotional expression of non-disabled siblings. In addition, rejection sensitivity moderated the effect of parentification on ambivalence over emotional expression. The influence of parentification on ambivalence over emotional expression was greater when the level of rejection sensitivity was high, compared to when it was low.