Parental Alienation: Ignored Phenomenon
Isaiah G. Doxey
San Jacinto South
Abstract
50 college students ranging in age from 18 to above 50 agreed to cooperate with a questionnaire that measures perceptions of alienating behaviors with their parents and their current relationship they hold with each parent. The study showed higher percentages of alienating behavior in divorced parents when compared to non-divorced parents. Alienated parent-child relationships in divorced homes were more prominent than non-divorced homes but it wasn’t greatly significant. Mothers and fathers showed little to no difference in likelihood to engage in these behaviors, meaning gender wasn’t an important factor. Participants who were alienated from one parent showed …show more content…
The research was conducted by survey, created to learn how the subjects viewed their parents alienating behaviors and how well each participant’s relationship with the parents was. The first set of questions were very basic so they could determine how each subject felt about their parent’s alienation actions and to categorize each of participant’s statuses (alien or non-alienated). Following the questionnaire was the Parental Alienation Behavior Scale (PABS). A PABS item is a phrase or sentence that the participant responds to based off of their parental alienating experience. These set of phrases and sentences are measured on a scale ranging from 0-8 with responses ranging from “Not at all” to “Extremely”. Fourteen additional questions called the Supplemental Scale were than set up to further acquire information about the subjects’ perceptions on parental alienating behavior and what feelings were held toward each parent. Similar to the PABS the Supplemental Scale items were scored from 0 to 4. Each participant took no more than 10 minutes to complete the entire survey. The data was collected with 50 psychology students attending the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas that agreed to participate as long as they remained anonymous. Out of the fifty students, thirty-two grew up with both parents and seventeen were raised in divorced families all ranging in age of 18 to above …show more content…
Hands and Warshak created a hypothesis that the likeliness to report alienation from a parent and alienating behaviors stemming from a parent depended on whether the participants were raised in divorced or intact homes. Each of the 50 participants included data in the PABS and the Supplemental Scale. One out of the fifty did not finish data for the PABS scale and two out of the fifty did not complete the Supplemental Scale data making the number for PABS 49 and the number for the Supplement Scale 48. Since PABS items had a 0 to 8 score scale and Supplement items had a 0 to 4 score scale the PABS potential total score was 0 to 56 for each parent and the Supplement Scales potential total score was 0 to 16 for each parent. The PABS discovered that the people who grew up while their parents were divorced seen more alienating behaviors in their mother and father than the subjects that were raised in intact marriages which was what Hands and Warshak had predicted (see Figure 1). Differences between intact and divorced groups on reported alienating behavior of parents were found to be significant both for the mother and the father (Hands & Warshak, 2011). When comparing the Supplemental Scale to the PABS, the Supplemental Scale recorded a very similar outcome which was subjects who grew up in divorced families experienced more alienated behavior than those who were raised in intact families (see Figure 2). Comparing the results found with each scale confirmed
Isaiah G. Doxey
San Jacinto South
Abstract
50 college students ranging in age from 18 to above 50 agreed to cooperate with a questionnaire that measures perceptions of alienating behaviors with their parents and their current relationship they hold with each parent. The study showed higher percentages of alienating behavior in divorced parents when compared to non-divorced parents. Alienated parent-child relationships in divorced homes were more prominent than non-divorced homes but it wasn’t greatly significant. Mothers and fathers showed little to no difference in likelihood to engage in these behaviors, meaning gender wasn’t an important factor. Participants who were alienated from one parent showed …show more content…
The research was conducted by survey, created to learn how the subjects viewed their parents alienating behaviors and how well each participant’s relationship with the parents was. The first set of questions were very basic so they could determine how each subject felt about their parent’s alienation actions and to categorize each of participant’s statuses (alien or non-alienated). Following the questionnaire was the Parental Alienation Behavior Scale (PABS). A PABS item is a phrase or sentence that the participant responds to based off of their parental alienating experience. These set of phrases and sentences are measured on a scale ranging from 0-8 with responses ranging from “Not at all” to “Extremely”. Fourteen additional questions called the Supplemental Scale were than set up to further acquire information about the subjects’ perceptions on parental alienating behavior and what feelings were held toward each parent. Similar to the PABS the Supplemental Scale items were scored from 0 to 4. Each participant took no more than 10 minutes to complete the entire survey. The data was collected with 50 psychology students attending the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas that agreed to participate as long as they remained anonymous. Out of the fifty students, thirty-two grew up with both parents and seventeen were raised in divorced families all ranging in age of 18 to above …show more content…
Hands and Warshak created a hypothesis that the likeliness to report alienation from a parent and alienating behaviors stemming from a parent depended on whether the participants were raised in divorced or intact homes. Each of the 50 participants included data in the PABS and the Supplemental Scale. One out of the fifty did not finish data for the PABS scale and two out of the fifty did not complete the Supplemental Scale data making the number for PABS 49 and the number for the Supplement Scale 48. Since PABS items had a 0 to 8 score scale and Supplement items had a 0 to 4 score scale the PABS potential total score was 0 to 56 for each parent and the Supplement Scales potential total score was 0 to 16 for each parent. The PABS discovered that the people who grew up while their parents were divorced seen more alienating behaviors in their mother and father than the subjects that were raised in intact marriages which was what Hands and Warshak had predicted (see Figure 1). Differences between intact and divorced groups on reported alienating behavior of parents were found to be significant both for the mother and the father (Hands & Warshak, 2011). When comparing the Supplemental Scale to the PABS, the Supplemental Scale recorded a very similar outcome which was subjects who grew up in divorced families experienced more alienated behavior than those who were raised in intact families (see Figure 2). Comparing the results found with each scale confirmed