EFFECTS PARENTAL ALIENATION

Effects on children

Because children learn to love and bond through attachment to care-givers, severance of the parent-child bond causes extreme damage at the worse time. It is the Achilles heel of mental health. Unsurprisingly then, Parental Alienation has both immediate and lifelong negative effects.  In a recent article, Harman, Kruk, & Hines (2018) clarified that parental alienation is child abuse with consequences potentially more damaging than from physical or sexual abuse. 

Studies have shown long-term consequences for alienated children such as anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, emotional dysregulation, identity development disruption, substance abuse, and poor peer and romantic relationships. Additionally, externalizing behaviours (e.g., ADHD, oppositional defiance disorder) have been shown and some studies reported negative academic and occupational impacts. As adults, alienated children may have a profound sense of self-loathing. No studies indicated the absence of short- or long-term effects associated with PA. Further information ca be found on the following websites:

Effects on targeted parents

The outcomes for alienated parents were similar to those experienced by victims of other forms of coercive controlling violence. Alienated parents were found to have considerable anxiety, depression and stress. Additionally, they reported feeling powerless, hopeless, and socially isolated. Several studies found that these individuals felt like they lost a part of their identity due to losing their role as parent, and they felt intense negative emotions associated with the loss of their children. Four studies reported high levels of suicidality among the alienated parents. One study in the USA found that about half of parents who have been alienated from their child have considered committing suicide within the last year.