For the Sake of the Children

Beyond Chrismukkah ◽

10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636368.003.0008 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 201-220

Author(s):

Samira K. Mehta

Keyword(s):

Adult Children ◽

Growing Up ◽

Religious Identities ◽

Interfaith Marriage ◽

Ultimate Question

The conclusion addresses the ultimate question posed by the debates about interfaith marriage: what about the kids? It draws from the range of religious identities with which adult children of interfaith marriage identify. Specifically, it articulates how those children understand their blended religious heritages and how their experiences do and do not likely predict the experiences of children growing up in such homes today.

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Adult children from dysfunctional families: A few words about the functioning and the consequences of living in the wrong family environment

Problemy Opiekuńczo-Wychowawcze ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0011.8293 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 568 (3) ◽

pp. 3-15

Author(s):

Anna Dąbrowska

Keyword(s):

Family Environment ◽

Adult Children ◽

Adult Child ◽

Growing Up ◽

Dysfunctional Families ◽

Environment Design ◽

Dysfunctional Family ◽

The Family

The article focuses on the ecosystem of the family as the basic socializing environment of the child. However, this is not another definitional approach, but rather a synthesis of knowledge necessary to determine the background constituting the fundamental issues of family environment. This study is centered around the consequences of growing up in the families involved in crises and its consequences for the further functioning in adulthood. Today, more and more attention is paid not only to adults with an adult child of an alcoholic syndrome (DDA), but also more broadly – on an adult child of a dysfunctional family (DDD), thereby making it clear that children who grew up in the wrong, dysfunctional environment, design disturbed behaviour on their own life partner, family and social surroundings.

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An Examination of the Developmental Impact of Continuing Destructive Parental Conflict on Young Adult Children

Illness Crisis & Loss ◽

10.1177/1054137317709581 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 175-189 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Emily Fozard ◽

Peter Gubi

Keyword(s):

Young Adult ◽

Adult Children ◽

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽

Role Reversal ◽

Parental Conflict ◽

Growing Up ◽

The Impact ◽

Parent Child Relationships ◽

Parent Child

This research investigates the impact of destructive parental conflict in continuously married parents, on young adult children. Four trainee or practicing counselors, who had personal experience of growing up in families in which there was continuing destructive parental conflict, were interviewed. The data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings resulted in four superordinate themes: feelings of loss, impact to family structure, trauma associated with the conflict, and impacts to personal and professional development, within which were 12 subordinate themes. Short-term impacts focused on mental health and self-esteem, and loss of security at home. Long-term impacts focused on future relationships, defensiveness, parent–child role-reversal, impacts to career, trauma, and parent–child relationships. The results demonstrate the necessity for support to be made available to children who are exposed to destructive parental conflict in parents who remain married, as well as to the adult children of continuing destructive parental conflict.

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“We Are More than Our Parents’ Mental Illness”: Narratives from Adult Children

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16050839 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 839 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Pamela Patrick ◽

Andrea Reupert ◽

Louise McLean

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Adult Children ◽

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽

New World ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Future Research ◽

Growing Up ◽

Parental Mental Illness ◽

Long Term Impact ◽

Member Checks

Although research on children of parents with mental illness is growing, few researchers have examined the long-term impact of parental mental illness on adult children. This study explored the potential impact of growing up with a parent with a mental illness on the parenting role assumed by adult children. The qualitative study included ten participants, who were individually interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) along with member checks were utilised to derive themes from participants’ narratives. Three main themes were identified, including: ‘this is me’, ‘a whole new world’, and ‘because of you’. ‘This is me’ consisted of narratives highlighting how adult children intentionally went about parenting in ways different from their parents, and ‘a whole new world’ captured the salient identity that parenthood served for adult children. The third theme, ‘because of you’ highlighted the challenges adult children faced in their parenting roles as a result of their childhood experience living with a parent with mental illness. Participants highlighted the main challenges to be an absence of a reference point and lack of informal social supports. Recommendations for mental health practitioners and future research are presented in order to develop better ways to support adult children and their families.

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