Mothers' attributions for alienation from their adult children.

Schoppe-Sullivan, SJ, Coleman, J., Wang, J., & Yan, JJ (2021) Maternal attributions for alienation from adult children. Couple and family psychology: research and practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000198

Commentary

The separation of parents and children is a phenomenon that may cause significant distress for adult children and their parents.

Understanding parental attributions for alienation is therefore important, and parents' willingness to make the necessary changes to facilitate reconciliation may depend on how they understand the reasons for their adult children's alienation.

This study used quantitative data from an online survey conducted in 2019 and completed by 1,035 mothers who were currently estranged from one or more adult children.

It examined mothers' support for attribution of alienation, demographic correlates of support for attribution, and the relationship between support for attribution and current level of contact with the alienated child.

These results showed that about half of the mothers had no contact at all since the alienation began, and more than half reported that it had been at least a year since they had had contact with their adult children.

These mothers reported that family members disobeying the child (e.g., the child's other biological parent, the adult child's romantic partner)

They also tended to endorse external attributions for alienation, including mental illness and the child's struggle with addiction.

Compared to external attributions, mothers were less likely to endorse internal attributions for alienation or validate their children's complaints about abuse and neglect.