Parents who are in high conflict with one another, divorced, or in court child custody may have their kid(s) engage in parental alienation, where the child strongly prefers to be with one parent and refuses to engage at all with the other parent. A common form of parental alienation is when the preferred parent encourages their child to negatively engage with and alienate the nonpreferred parent, which leads to a one-sided, unhealthy phenomenon.
Factors of parental alienation can influence negative beliefs and resistance in a child’s relationship with their alienated parent. If the child sees one of their parents’ hostile with the other, they can internalize those negative emotions and place them on the nonpreferred parent.
Parental alienation can lead to short- and long-term negative impacts on the child, mental health issues in the alienated parent, and damage the overall parent-child familial relationship. It’s important to understand the reasoning behind a child’s alienation from a certain parent, and to find methods to address it. More research is needed in regards to the psychology of parental alienation!
To read more, click here!
Ashley Bejar, UConn KIDS Research Assistant
