Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Discipline

Clinical Adolescent Psychology

Abstract

Parentification is defined as parent-child role reversal where the child acts as a parent to their caregivers and siblings (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Sparks, 1973; Haxhe, 2016). Children reared in dysfunctional families commonly experience parentification and other adverse childhood experiences (ACE; Kuperminc et al., 2013; Jurkovic, 1997). Parentification is related to a host of maladaptive psychological outcomes, including anxiety and depression, resulting from the expectations of the parentified role outweighing the child’s developmental competencies (Hooper, 2012). Although some studies report that parentification is related to adverse outcomes, some literature has found parentified children exhibit positive adaptive effects. Cultural norms and ACEs that prompt parentification significantly impact the parentified role (Khafi et al., 2014; Jurkovic, 1997), yet consideration for these critical factors are overlooked in the existing literature. Directed by the ecological-ethical perspective and social cognitive theory, the present study seeks to explore the relationship between early adversity and parentification and how together they impact self-regulation. Cultural considerations are emphasized specifically for Black families, as assuming adult responsibilities during childhood is common in this community (Boyd-Franklin, 2013). An exploratory factor analysis of Session and Jurkovic’s (1986) Parentification Questionnaire determined the factor structure within a predominately Black student sample. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the impact of early adversity and parentification on perceived stress and behavioral self-regulation. The analyses revealed a three-factor, including internalization, perceived fairness, and role induction, underlining the construction of the Parentification Questionnaire. Threat and deprivation ACE domains positively predicted internalization. The threat domains positively predicted perceived fairness. Internalization was negatively associated with poor self-efficacy, while perceived fairness was positively related to poor self-efficacy. Poor self-efficacy was negatively associated with goal setting but unrelated to impulse control. Study results clarified the Parentification Questionnaire's factor structure for Black young adults and inform clinicians of parentification's unique influence on behavioral self-regulation. The study findings can aid in identifying Black children and adolescents most at risk for destructive parentification and identifying pathways to maladjustment.

Committee Chair/Advisor

Yuki Shigemoto

Committee Member

Logan Yelderman

Committee Member

Brandon Sylvester

Committee Member

Jennifer Rockett

Publisher

Prairie View A&M University

Rights

© 2021 Prairie View A & M University

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Date of Digitization

11/07/2024

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

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