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The Long-Term Correlates of Childhood Exposure

to Parental Alienation on Adult Self-Sufficiency
and Well-Being

Naomi Ben-Ami & Amy J. L. Baker

To cite this article: Naomi Ben-Ami & Amy J. L. Baker (2012) The Long-Term Correlates of
Childhood Exposure to Parental Alienation on Adult Self-Sufficiency and Well-Being, The
American Journal of Family Therapy, 40:2, 169-183, DOI: 10.1080/01926187.2011.601206

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The American Journal of Family Therapy, 40:169–183, 2012
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0192-6187 print / 1521-0383 online
DOI: 10.1080/01926187.2011.601206

The Long-Term Correlates of Childhood

Exposure to Parental Alienation on Adult
Self-Sufficiency and Well-Being

NAOMI BEN-AMI
Yeshiva University, New York, New York, USA

AMY J. L. BAKER
New York Foundling Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection, New York, New York, USA

In this retrospective study, we examined several long-term psycho-

logical correlates of experiencing parental alienation (PA) as a
child, defined as reporting that one parent tried to undermine the
child’s relationship with the other parent. Differences between those
who did and did not endorse having this experience were measured
on self-sufficiency and four aspects of well-being: alcohol abuse, de-
pression, attachment, and self-esteem. Results indicated significant
associations between perceived exposure to parental alienation as
a child and lower self-sufficiency, higher rates of major depres-
sive disorder, lower self-esteem, and insecure attachment styles as
adults. This research suggests that there are significant long-term
psychological associations in the lives of adults who experienced
parental alienation as children, which created observable vulner-
abilities that differ from normative divorce situations.

The degree of conflict between parents during and after separation has been
identified as the single best predictor of outcomes for children after divorce
(Pruett, Williams, Isabella, & Little, 2003; Schick, 2002). One distinct form of
parental conflict that can sometimes emerge under high conflict situations
has been termed parental alienation (PA). This refers to the persistent, un-
warranted denigration of one parent by the other, in an attempt to alienate
the child from the other parent (Gardner, 1998). Parental alienation syn-
drome (PAS) refers to one possible outcome of experiencing PA, and refers

Address correspondence to Amy J. L. Baker, New York Foundling Vincent J. Fontana

Center for Child Protection, 27 Christopher Street, New York, NY 10014. E-mail: amyb@
nyfoundling.org

169
170 N. Ben-Ami and A. J. L. Baker

to a condition in which a child has been successfully indoctrinated and con-

trolled by an alienating parent (AP), resulting in unwarranted fear, hatred,
and rejection of the targeted parent (TP).
The proposed psychological underpinnings for this family dynamic and
the consequences of exposure to PA have been drawn from theory and
clinical experience. As PA is still a relatively new construct, scientific in-
vestigations into this phenomenon have been somewhat limited (Warshak,
2001). However, parental conflict has long been established as an impor-
tant determinant of the long-term adjustment of children of divorce (Amato,
1994), and findings confirm that it is not simply the extent of the conflict
that affects children detrimentally, but rather, the degree to which children
are drawn into the parental conflict, (Buchanan, Maccoby, & Dornbusch,
1991). Children caught in the middle of parental disputes post-divorce have
more problems adjusting than children of divorce who are not thus involved
(Kelly, 2000; Grych, Seid, & Fincham, 1992).
In the only empirical examination looking explicitly at the outcomes of
exposure to PA and resulting PAS, Baker (2005; 2007), using a qualitative
design, analyzed interviews of 40 self-identified adults victims of PAS (that
is, they believed that they had been exposed to parental alienation strategies
and as a result became alienated from one parent by the other parent). Baker
(2007) reported that the subjects identified being affected by the experience
of alienation in the following areas: (1) low self-esteem/self-hatred, (2) de-
pression, (3) drugs/alcohol abuse, (4) lack of trust, (5) alienation from own
children, (6) divorce, and (7) other (e.g. identity difficulties, low achieve-
ment, anger). These effects were identified by the subjects as associated
with the emotional abuse and trauma involved with exposure to PA and the
resulting PAS.
Following the direction pointed out by Baker’s (2007) work, the current
study set out to explore the long-term correlates of the perception of having
experienced PA by one parent against the other, over the lifetime of adult
children of divorce on five relevant psychological domains.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Autonomy, a sense of individuation and the development of psychological

self-reliance (Ammaniti & Trentini, 2009; Mahler, Pine, & Bergman, 1975) are
important achievements for an individual’s sense of competence (Grolnick &
Ryan, 1989) and intrinsic motivation (Joussemet, Landry & Koestner, 2008).
Kohut’s (1971) concept of mirroring describes the child’s need for admiration,
celebration of accomplishments, and encouragement of progress from his or
her caregiver. It is this experience of being valued and supported by a
caregiver that allows children to depend progressively less on others as they
internalize a sense of agency and develop meaning and goals for themselves.
 Long-Term Correlates 171

When the acquisition of positive self-regard is reinforced, caregivers help a

child to actualize his or her sense of agency and potential (Kohut, 1971).
On the other hand, psychological control on the part of the parent un-
dermines autonomous development of the child by mitigating intrinsic mo-
tivation and constricting self-determining behavior, (Jouseemet et al., 2008).
Psychological control has been defined as parental pressure on the child
to think and behave in certain ways to please the parent, regardless of the
meaning or impact on the child (Buehler, Krishnakumer, Stone, Anthony,
Pemberton, Gerard, & Barber, 1998). Studies in this area suggest that parental
psychological control is intrusive and inhibits the development of autonomy
(Ojanen & Perry, 2007; Ryan, 1982) and can interfere with developing an
intrinsic source of motivation.
Children inducted into PA dynamics are not allowed the freedom to de-
velop an autonomous emotional life. The AP demands obedience, interfering
with the child’s ability to make independent decisions and have psycholog-
ical freedom. Diminishing the child’s autonomous thinking skills is crucial
for a successful alienating agenda, which aims to increase the child’s acqui-
escence to the AP’s demands and adoption of the AP’s false belief systems.
Thus, it was hypothesized in this study that children exposed to parental
alienation would have diminished self-sufficiency.

WELL-BEING

Four aspects of adult well-being were measured in this study, based on

theory and research conducted by Baker (2007): alcohol abuse, depression,
attachment, and self-esteem.

Alcohol Abuse
The self-medication model of addiction proposes that substance abusers uti-
lize drugs or alcohol as a method of coping with painful affective states
(Khantzian, 1985). Substance use can compensate for poor emotional regu-
lation and can alleviate or soothe negative affect. Parental discord has been
hypothesized as having an independent association with substance use, as
one of several possible adverse childhood events (Anda et al., 2002; Tschann
et al., 2002). Parental loss due to separation is also an independent predic-
tor of alcoholism, (Hope, Power, & Rodgers, 1998; Kendler et al., 1996).
Findings from the Baker (2007) study of adult children of PAS suggest that
the self-medication model may be highly applicable for individuals who as
children had one parent turn them against the other parent. In order to cope
with the difficult and confusing family dynamic, the adult children turned to
substances to modulate their pain.
172 N. Ben-Ami and A. J. L. Baker

Depression
One of the ways in which parents try to turn a child against the other
parent is to denigrate the other parent to the child in order to convince
the child that the other parent does not love the child and is not worthy
of the child’s love. This message, if internalized, can lead to depression
as the child struggles with the perception of parental rejection. Furthermore,
the child must cope alone and privately with this perceived rejection because
the alienating parent has conveyed to the child that it is not permissible
to value that other parent. Theories about the effect of interpersonal loss
have proposed that the loss and the perception of rejection from a parent
may be associated with depression (Bowlby, 1982). Additionally, perceived
parental rejection has been found to be associated with depressive symptoms
in adolescence (MacPhee & Andrews, 2006). Baker (2007) notes that such
vulnerability may be even more pervasive in individuals exposed to PA than
other populations, as their grief related to the perception of rejection and
loss must be denied, suppressed, or hidden in order to please the AP. If
parental alienation is successful in turning the child against the other parent,
then the relationship is actually lost to the child, also a significant risk factor
for subsequent depression (Bowlby, 1982).

Attachment
Early relational patterns create the blueprint for later styles of interpersonal
interactions (Ainsworth, 1982). Parental relationships transform into belief
systems about the worthiness of the self and hence strongly influence the
nature of subsequent attachment relationships. A caregiver’s ability to pro-
vide contingent and sensitive responses to the child’s needs creates a secure
attachment in the child, whereas inconsistent, harsh, or emotionally negli-
gent parenting can result in insecure attachments (Bowbly, 1982). Attachment
representations are ultimately thought to be transferred from early caregivers
to the relationships established during adulthood through the individual’s
internal representational model of interpersonal behavior (Shulman, Scharf,
Lumer, & Maurer, 2001).
Divorce is a stressful family event that often causes changes in family
dynamics, as new demands, and emotional stresses alter parenting behavior
(Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1982). Parental conflict in particular is predictive
of less warmth, sensitivity and involvement in parents’ interactions with their
children (Owen & Cox, 1997), which can increase insecure attachments in
children and cause difficulties for children of divorce in their adult relation-
ships (Emery, 1982). While children of divorce in general may be vulnerable
to relationship difficulties (Crowell, Treboux, & Brockmeyer, 2009; Sager,
2009), children of PA are likely at particular risk. Because alienating parents
 Long-Term Correlates 173

are more concerned with their own needs than effectively meeting the emo-
tional needs of the child, they cultivate relationships that involve dependency
and are imbued with psychological control and manipulation. Thus, they are
more likely to form insecure attachments with their children, resulting in rela-
tionship difficulties for these children throughout the lifetime (Baker, 2005).
Further, exposure to parental alienation is also proposed to interfere with
the child’s attachment relationship with the targeted parent. Thus, parental
alienation may be related to adult attachment via relationships with both the
alienating and the targeted parent.

Self-Esteem
Self-critical attitudes and low self-esteem are thought to stem in part from
problematic parental relationships (Blatt & Homann, 1992) and lack of a
secure attachment (McCormick & Kennedy, 1994). Insecure attachments
can create uncertainty about how an individual will be responded to (Mc-
Cormick & Kennedy, 1994) and foster doubts about one’s own lovability and
worth (Mikulincer, Shaver, Bar-On, & Ein-Dor, 2010). Parental psychologi-
cal control, another salient experience for children of PA, has been identi-
fied as an important component of the development of low self-esteem in
children (Barber & Harmon, 2002; Bean, Bush, McKenry, & Wilson, 2003;
Caron, Weiss, & Harris, 2003). Soenens, Vansteenkiste, Luyten, Duriez, and
Goossens (2005) suggest that higher levels of psychological control cre-
ates a critical self-representation due to the parents’ tendency to disregard
the child’s perspective and act in guilt-inducing ways, causing negative self-
evaluations and doubts in the child. In particular, adolescents who feel weak
or helpless during their interactions with a parent who exhibits psychological
control have been found to be particularly vulnerable to reduced self-esteem
(Ojanen & Perry, 2007). This line of thinking helps explicate observations
that adult children of PAS, who felt powerless in the face of the AP, tended to
report low self-esteem as adults (Baker, 2005). Children inducted into a PA
dynamic can come to know themselves as someone who is expected to act
and feel in ways that are based on the needs of another, (Baker, 2005), not
as a worthy and autonomous individual. Through repetition over time, this
can manifest as doubts about one’s ability and worth, and hence, lowered
self-esteem.

THE CURRENT STUDY

The current study was designed to empirically and quantitatively document

the long-term correlates of PA by examining the differences between adult
children of divorce who were exposed to parental alienation (the PA group)
174 N. Ben-Ami and A. J. L. Baker

and adult children of divorce who were not exposed to parental alien-
ation (the No-PA group) on the psychological domains noted above (self-
sufficiency, life time prevalence of major depressive disorder, alcohol abuse,
attachment style, and self-esteem). It was hypothesized that subjects in the
PA group would have more impaired functioning than the No-PA group in
all of these areas.

METHODS
Participants and Procedures
Between September and December of 2009, a flyer was posted on approxi-
mately 30 social networking web-sites and Listerv groups that were explicitly
devoted to adult children of divorce and/or PA support groups as well as
distributed to friends and colleagues who were encouraged to forward it to
others. The flyer stated that a doctoral student was “Seeking adults whose
parents divorced before they were 15 years old.” Interested individuals were
directed to a secure website. Participants were not asked any identifying
information to ensure confidentiality and all subjects were provided with
emergency resources in the event of emotional distress as a result of par-
ticipation. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine Committee on Clinical
Investigations approved all study procedures.

Sample
One hundred and fifty five individuals responded to the survey, 118 of
whom completed it sufficiently to be included in the data analysis. Table 1
presents sample characteristics for the full sample of 118, and by group (PA
or No-PA). As can be seen, the sample was two thirds females, primarily
Caucasian, and ranged in age from 18 to 66 years. Analyses conducted to
compare the sample who completed the survey with those who did not
complete did not result in any statistically significant group effects for age,
gender, marital status, educational attainment, having children, and age at
parental separation.

TABLE 1 Sample Characteristics

Full Sample No-PA PA X 2/T Sig

Mean Age 30.3 (8.9) 30.0 (7.6) 30.4 (9.7) .81 .41
% Females 66.9 59.2 72.5 2.3 .17
% Caucasian 84.7 85.7 89.1 1.3 .85
% Ever Married 57.6 44.9 40.6 .21 .39
% Physically Abused 16.9 10.2 21.7 2.7 .08
% Sexually Abused 11.0% 6.1 14.5 2.0 .13
 Long-Term Correlates 175

Measures
The web survey consisted of demographic questions, two open-ended ques-
tions, and a series of standardized measures.

GROUP DESIGNATION
Subjects designated to the No-PA group were those who positively endorsed
the following question, “Neither parent undermined my relationship with
my other parent and I maintained a relationship with both of my parents.”
Those designated to the PA group were subjects who positively endorsed
that “One or both of my parents interfered or undermined my relationship
with the other parent.” While it would have been ideal to break the PA
group into sub groups based on the success of the PA to result in PAS
in the child, study data suggested that this was not possible. Within the
sample of 118 participants, 49 (41.5%) subjects were in the No-PA group
and 69 (59.5%) subjects were designated to be in the PA group. The two
groups were compared on demographic characteristics such as age, gender,
ethnicity, marital status, and history of physical or sexual abuse. As shown
in Table 1, no group differences were statistically significant.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Self-sufficiency was assessed with a 15-item scale in which respondents re-
ported on the extent to which they generally performed daily living tasks
such as food shopping, paying bills, and doing laundry on a five-point Likert-
scale from Never (0) to Regularly (4). Internal consistency was .85. Due to
skewness of the summary scores, a dichotomous variable was created to re-
flect placement in the bottom third of the sample (score of 0) or placement
in the top two thirds of the sample (score of 1).
Educational attainment was assessed and coded as achieved four-year
college degree (score of 1) or not (score of 0), five subjects were excluded
because they were under the age of 22 and were still were in school.
Information regarding current educational and employment position
was recoded as a dichotomous variable of not currently working and not
currently in school (score of 0) or currently working and/or in school (score
of 1).

ALCOHOL ABUSE
To assess alcohol abuse, the CAGE questionnaire was administered (Ew-
ing, 1984), a four-item self-report questionnaire in which each item is rated
present or absent. Endorsement of two or more items is considered indica-
tive of alcohol dependence (Poulin, Webster, & Single, 1997). A dichotomous
variable was created to reflect alcohol abuse (score of 1) or not (score of 0)
based on this cut-off.
176 N. Ben-Ami and A. J. L. Baker

DEPRESSION
To assess major depressive disorder, 22-item The Inventory to Diagnose De-
pression, Lifetime Version (IDDL) was administered. Following Zimmerman
and Coryell’s (1987) coding formula, each respondent was diagnosed as
meeting the DSM diagnostic criteria (score of 1) or not (score of 0).

ATTACHMENT
Attachment style was assessed with the Relationship Questionnaire, RQ,
(Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), which is comprised of a single item pre-
senting four short paragraphs describing prototypical adult attachment pat-
terns, from which the respondent selects the one that best describes his or
her interpersonal relationships. Each of the paragraphs represents one of the
following four styles: secure, preoccupied, fearful, or dismissing. Responses
were recoded as secure (score of 1) or not secure (score of 0).

SELF-ESTEEM
Self-esteem was assessed with the 10-item self-report Rosenberg Self-Esteem
Scale, RSE, (Rosenberg, 1965), in which each item is rated on a four-point
Likert scale from strongly disagree (0) to strongly agree (4). Total scores
are created by summing the 10 items after reverse coding. In this study the
summary score ranged from 15.56 to 40.00 and had an internal consistency
coefficient of .91.

RESULTS

In order to assess differences between the PA and No-PA groups on all di-
chotomous outcomes (educational attainment, in school/working, daily liv-
ing score, alcohol abuse, depression, and attachment style) cross-tabulations
were computed and chi-square analyses were calculated. For the single con-
tinuous measure (self esteem) an independent t-test was conducted. All
results are presented in Table 2.
Results revealed that the PA group—as compared to the No-PA
group—was statistically significantly less likely to have completed four years
of college (p < .04), less likely to currently be working and/or in school
(p < .02), more likely to have scores in the bottom third of the self-sufficiency
scale (p < .02), more likely to meet the DSM criteria for lifetime major de-
pression (p < .03), less likely to have a secure attachment style (p < .02),
and had lower self-esteem (p < .03).
 Long-Term Correlates 177

TABLE 2 Differences Between No-PA (n = 69) and PA (n = 49) Groups on Outcomes

Variable No-PA (n = 49) PA (n = 69) X2 sig.

Self Sufficiency
% 4 years of college 85.7% 69.5% 4.0 .04
% School/work 93.9% 78.3% 5.4 .02
% Self-suff. score over 50 81.6% 62.3% 5.1 .02
Well-Being
% Above CAGE cut-off 40.8% 27.3% 2.3 .16
% Meet DSM Criteria 64.6% 82.4% 4.7 .03
% Secure Style 51.0% 29.4% 5.6 .02
Mean RSE Score 32.3(5.9) 29.8(6.1) t = 2.2 .03

DISCUSSION

This study explored the functioning and well-being of adult children of

divorce in the five domains which were previously determined as primary
areas impacted by the experience of parental alienation (Baker, 2007). We
examined differences between adult children of divorce who reported that
one parent tried to undermine their relationship with the other parent (the
PA group) and those who reported that neither parent tried to undermine
their relationship with the other parent (the No-PA group) and found strong
empirical support for the qualitative findings from Baker’s (2007) study.
In particular, the individuals in the PA group were more likely to have
lower self-sufficiency, according to the definition established in this study,
including a greater chance that they had not completed a 4-year college, were
not currently enrolled in school or working, and may not effectively care for
themselves in basic ways (such as depositing money into a savings account
and budgeting spending money). Based on related literature, it appears that
the controlling nature of PA strategies and the lack of responsiveness to the
child’s needs may compromise autonomy and intrinsic motivation (Grolnick,
Deci, & Ryan, 1997). One participant articulated this idea during an open-
ended comment, “ My mother made it very hard for me to formulate my own
opinions . . . I have had to learn how to differ from my mother’s opinion (even
now at age 39) on all matters because it was so painful for her to see me form
my own opinion of my father.”
Major Depressive Disorder was also associated with the experience of
PA in this study. While no inquiries were directly made about the causal
relationship, during an open ended section of the questionnaire, participants
implicitly addressed this issue. For instance, one subject stated, “The fact
that I have felt no security or safety as a child and feel all these stresses
and emotions have affected my relationship and my mental health.” Another
participant reported, “My mom’s hatred for my dad made me constantly have
to be the “middle man”. It made me and my emotions feel invisible and
178 N. Ben-Ami and A. J. L. Baker

less important than hers.” These and other comments reveal possible causal
pathways from parental alienation to lifetime depressive disorder.
Subjects exposed to PA had lower self-esteem and were less likely to
be securely attached in their adult relationships. Baker’s (2005) research
suggests that the subjects’ belief that the parts of themselves which were
associated with the hated TP were also viewed by themselves as bad and
hated. In addition, this finding is likely rooted in the messages delivered to
the subjects that they were unloved by the TP, as well as related to the guilt
experienced after rejecting the TP in cases where the PA was successful.
One subject explained the relationship between PA and insecure attachment
by reporting, “The experience of alienation] has infected my own ability
to have authentic intimate relationships. I am constantly approval-seeking,
merely transferring my need to keep my mother happy onto intimate partners.”
Another stated, “[My parents] had a bad attitude toward each other, and made
me very untrusting and suspect of people.”
Thus, the belief that one parent attempted to turn the individual against
the other parent was statistically associated with lower self-sufficiency (less
likely to complete four years of college, less likely to be working or going
to school, and lower scores on a daily living skills measure), lower self-
esteem, less likely to have secure attachments, and more likely to meet
the DSM criteria for lifetime depression. The one area that was not borne
out in the analyses pertained to alcohol abuse, which was not found to
be more likely in the PA group. In all, the striking differences between the
groups of individuals who were differentiated based on a single item on the
survey regarding whether one parent tried to undermine their relationship
with the other parent, were remarkably consistent with those of Baker (2007).
Thus, the data convergently support the theory that parental attempts (and/or
success) at interfering in a child’s relationship with the other parent can
be damaging to an individual throughout his or her life in key areas of
functioning and well-being.

Clinical Implications
Looking at the phenomenon of parental alienation prospectively as it un-
folds in real time in a divorcing family, what is possible to detect is parental
attempts to undermine a child’s relationship with the other parent. Whether
it develops into the child’s rejection of that parent (PAS) can only be known
over time and by then it is, in some respects, too late, the damage to the
relationship has been done. Ideally, the trajectory can be interrupted success-
fully to allow children to maintain healthy relationships with both parents,
to be loved by them and loving with them. The data presented in this study
can be used to help achieve that goal, by focusing attention on parental be-
haviors (i.e., efforts to interfere with and undermine the child’s relationship
 Long-Term Correlates 179

with the other parent) as opposed to the resulting response in the child of
being turned against the other parent. In order to build on these findings to
achieve the goal of preserving the child’s relationship with both parents, the
data presented here could be made available to divorcing parents and the le-
gal and mental health professionals working with them. Parents who might
otherwise try to interfere in the child’s relationship with the other parent
should be educated to refrain from doing so and strongly, consistently, and
swiftly sanctioned by the courts for doing so. Parents who experience the
other parent as trying to interfere in their relationship with their child should
be alerted to the potential of this behavior to harm their relationship and
damage the child. Rather than taking a wait and see attitude, these parents
should be encouraged to proactively address these behaviors both with the
child and with the other parent. For example, if the other parent is naively
engaged in these PA behaviors, a heartfelt plea to cease may be sufficient.
On the other hand, if the parent is engaged in these efforts in an active and
or obsessed manner (to use the terminology proposed by Darnall in 1998),
then more forceful and directed efforts to have them stop may be warranted.
In either case, documentation of exactly how the parent is interfering would
probably be useful, along the lines suggested by Baker and Fine (2008).
Working with the child to develop skills to resist the pressure to be turned
against one parent by the other parent is also an appropriate avenue to
explore for parents involved in parental conflicts that involve the children
in this manner, an approach strongly endorsed by Fidler and Bala (2010).
Gardner’s (1985) book for children as well as the more recent “I don’t want
to choose” book and workbook (Andre & Baker, 2009) offer useful resources
for working with children. The effectiveness of various psycho-educational
prevention approaches should be empirically investigated in order to provide
parents and professionals with as many helpful resources as possible. And,
finally, therapists working with children and parents affected by parental
alienation should be educated about state of the art research and strategies
for supporting families and helping prevent alienation whenever possible
and intervene to correct it whenever necessary.
Therapists working with adults who had this experience as children
(when it is no longer possible to prevent or intervene in the child’s fam-
ily), should be mindful of these findings, especially with respect to adult
self-sufficiency. As noted by Baker (2007), adult children of parental alien-
ation may need professional therapeutic assistance and support in order to
be able to understand the alienation dynamics that they had been subjected
to and will certainly need encouragement to look more realistically at their
parents in order to begin to dismantle some of the false beliefs about the
individual’s worth and abilities that are probably interfering in adaptation to
a successful independent adult life. Examination of the shame, guilt, sad-
ness, and loss that can accompany exposure to parental alienation could
also be helpful in releasing the individual from the emotional burdens that
180 N. Ben-Ami and A. J. L. Baker

constrain adult functioning and prevent successful self-sufficiency. Exposure

to parental alienation strategies constitutes a form of emotional abuse of
children. The results from this study add to the knowledge base about the
ways in which this form of childhood maltreatment has negative outcomes
that extend into adulthood.

Limitations
When interpreting these results it is important to consider several factors. Lit-
tle is known about the participants’ family circumstances or family dynamics,
which contextualize the experience of PA for the participants in this study.
Further information on the characteristics related to the circumstances and
time frame of the alienation agenda, would provide a fuller understanding of
the mechanisms involved in PA and should be assessed in future research.
We were not able to differentiate those in the PA group who also experi-
enced PAS (i.e., were in fact turned against one parent by the other parent)
and those who did not experience PAS (i.e., were not turned against one
parent by the other parent). It is possible that all of the negative outcomes
found in the PA group are attributable to the subgroup who experienced
PAS and it is really that experience that is the causal agent associated with
poor outcomes as opposed to exposure to PA itself. This is an important
area for future research to address, teasing apart the independent effects of
PA from PAS. Third, all data are retrospective self-report and hence are sub-
jected to measurement error associated with that methodology, especially
the problems of directionality in which it is possible that individuals with
poorer functioning at the time of the study (i.e., were depressed and had
low-self esteem, for example) had a more negative view of their childhood
and were more likely to report that one parent tried to turn them against
the other parent (Hardt & Rutter, 2004). Because of focused recruitment,
this study primarily relied on a convenience sample of individuals who had
self-selected involvement in support groups related to parental divorce. As
such, the results may represent the experience of this particular subset of the
population of adult children of divorce. Each of these issues provides fertile
ground for future research, which is necessary for continuing to understand
the impact of parental divorce on children over the course of their life-span.

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