Abstract
The term parental alienation refers to the negative influence of one parent over a child’s perception of the other parent (targeted parent). The aim of this research was to gain further understanding of targeted parents’ experience of parental alienation from their own perspectives. For this qualitative study, a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with eight participants aged between 33 and 51 years was conducted. The data from individual semi-structured interviews enabled the identification of four main themes: perception of personal impact, coping strategies, family relationships and support network. Parents identified a serious impairment of their physical and emotional well-being and mainly identified emotion-focused coping strategies to deal with this adverse ongoing situation. Furthermore, they reported changes in key relationships, with emphasis on difficulties in family and social contexts. The contribution of the findings to research and interventions with parents and families experiencing parental alienation are discussed.
Highlights
The data analysis of the qualitative data resulted in four main themes related to parents’ experience of living a situation of parental alienation: (1) perception of personal impact; (2) coping strategies; (3) family relationships and (4) support network
Perception of personal impact (N = 8, R = 152) encompassed the reactions experienced by targeted parents, including emotional reactions (N = 8, R = 143) and physical reactions (N = 4, R = 9)
While participants felt that sufficient support was not available to them, they were still able to recognize help from specific friends and family members, which was beneficial for dealing with the emotional challenges of parental alienation. This qualitative research focused on the individual, family and support network experiences of eight targeted parents living a situation of parental alienation
Summary
Cases of parental alienation have been associated with a high-conflict separation or divorce (Baker and Verrocchio 2015; Sher 2015), they may occur in intact families (Baker 2006; Turkart 2002). In addition to the conflict between the parents, the child is placed in the middle of the conflict, through insulting comments about the other parent and the fact that the child is forced to take a position (Baker and Darnall 2006). In a study with alienated parents, they identified that their children took the side of one of the parents in interparental conflicts (Baker and Darnall 2007).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
