Childhood Parentification

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Imagine the most preeminent memory you have of your adolescence, what do you hear, what do you see, what do you feel? Most of us will have an image of our parents, either taking us on a fun road trip to Disneyland or even just spending quality time with us. Now envision that memory being replaced with worrying about how your parents are going to pay a bill, how you are going to get to school, maybe even what you will make your younger siblings for dinner. Unfortunately, that is the reality for a vast amount of adolescents. It is most commonly referred to as parentification. Which is the term that is used to describe a role reversal where a child forfeits his or her own functional and/or emotional needs to become responsible for the emotional …show more content…

Emotional, mainly entailing a child becoming predisposed to the emotional needs of the parent, as well as, becoming a sort of confidant for the parent to confide in. Whereas instrumental involves the child tending to the physical needs of the parents and can include being in charge of the family's finances and also preparing the families meals. Although parentification can occur in a variety of families it is most commonly found in those who have a history of terminal illness, psychopathology, and or drug/substance abuse. Studies have linked childhood parentification to be either detrimental or beneficial in regards to later adjustment in adulthood. A majority of the adolescents who experienced parentification have been said to be more prone to engage in increased substance use, lower academic status, and behavioral problems. For the others it has been said to help with later adaptive behaviors, which can include increased coping skills and high levels of social competence. With every child experiencing adult role taking in a greater or lesser extent, parentification is thought to exist on a continuum. Reports of childhood parentification have been associated with adult ratings of both depression and happiness, which would suggest higher levels of parentification during childhood to be associated with elevated levels of depression and decreased levels of happiness in

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