NCJ Number
212892
Journal
Journal of Emotional Abuse Volume: 5 Issue: 2/3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 111-142
Date Published
2005
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This study investigated how both marital and parent-child relationships might be associated with children’s representations of role-reversal and vulnerability.
Abstract
The study findings lend support to family systems models that link problems in the marital relationship with problems in the parent-child relationship. Results supported the main hypothesis that marital conflict, and particularly child involvement in marital conflict, was associated with child drawings rated high in role-reversal. Moreover, mothers who reported higher levels of problems in multiple areas had children whose drawings were rated higher in role-reversal and vulnerability. Another important finding indicated a significant relationship between mother’s satisfaction with conflict strategies and ratings of lower vulnerability in children’s drawings. Results also suggest different patterns of relationships for younger and older children. In younger children, conflict frequency, child involvement, and efficacy of conflict resolution were associated with higher ratings of role-reversal in children’s drawings. Methodology involved examining representations of parentification in children’s drawings of their family. Participants were 58 children aged 4 through 8 years and their mothers; mothers completed a series of questionnaires measuring interparental conflict and parenting variables while children were interviewed in a separate room and completed a drawing of their family. Drawings were rated according to eight global scales, including role-reversal and vulnerability scales; the children’s fine motor skills were assessed using a Draw-a-Design subtest. Implications of the findings for family drawing assessments and treatments are discussed. Tables, references