Communication and Parental Infidelity: A Qualitative Analysis of How Adult Children Cope in a Topic-Avoidant Environment

ABSTRACT

This study investigated adult children’s retrospective accounts of coping with a parent’s infidelity. To understand these experiences, 38 adult children whose parents had engaged in infidelity were interviewed. Results suggested that children placed communicative sanctions on their parent, acted out, and set ground rules for interaction. Last, a segment of participants discussed how communal coping stalled their ability to cope with these events. Combined, these findings highlight the complex nature of the communication surrounding parental infidelity and offer suggestions as to how these findings extend theorizing on topic avoidance.

KEYWORDS:

• Acting out
• communicative sanctions
• coping; family communication
• ground rules
• parental infidelity
• topic avoidance

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to participants for sharing their personal experiences of parental infidelity; to William R. Cupach (Illinois State University) for his helpful feedback; and to Dr. Evelyn Ho, Dr. Brandi Lawless, Dr. Genevieve Leung, Dr. Noriko Milman, Dr. Jennifer Parlamis, and Dr. Chris Thomas (each from the University of San Francisco) for taking part in a data conference to validate these findings.