Parental alienation: Targeted parent perspective

Figures & data

Table 1. Socio‐demographic variables of the current study sample

Socio‐demographic	Variables	Number (%)	M (SD)	Socio‐demographic	Variables	Number (%)	M (SD)
Sample		225 (100)	—	Age of TC	1–18 years	—	11.32 (4.74)
Age	18–60 years	—	40.79 (7.70)	Gender of TC	Male	102 (45.3)	—
Sex of parent	Female	120 (53.3)	—		Female	123 (54.7)	—
	Male	105 (46.7)	—	No. children shared with AP	1	92 (40.9)	—
Country of residence	USA	108 (48)	—		2	74 (32.9)	—
	Australia	82 (36.4)	—		3	29 (12.9)	—
	Canada	17 (7.6)	—		4	7 (3.1)	—
	United Kingdom	10 (4.4)	—		5	3 (1.3)	—
	New Zealand	5 (2.2)	—		6	1 (.4)	—
	Ireland	2 (.9)	—	No. children alienated from	1	116 (51.6)	—
	India	1 (.4)	—		2	80 (35.6)	—
Language	English	220 (97.8)	—		3	17 (7.6)	—
Relationship status	Divorced/separated	102 (45.3)	—		4	7 (3.1)	—
	Married/defacto	78 (34.7)	—		5	2 (.9)	—
	Single	29 (12.9)	—		6	1 (.4)	—
	Never married	16 (7.1)	—	Current custody status	No custody	61 (27.1)	—
Employment	Full‐time	131 (58.2)	—		Non‐custodial with visitation	51 (22.7)	—
	Part‐time	32 (14.2)	—		Primary custodial parent	19 (8.4)	—
	Unemployed	44 (19.6)	—		Joint custody	39 (17.3)	—
	Part‐/full‐time student	18 (8)	—	Custody arrangement	No custody	6 (2.7)	—
TC resides with TP	Yes	18 (8)	—		Non‐custodial with visitation	59 (26.2)	—
	No	207 (92)	—		Primary custodial parent	37 (16.4)	—
Children with someone other than the AP	Yes	83 (36.9)	—		Joint custody	84 (37.3)	—
	No	142 (63.1)	—

Note. AP = alienating parent; M = estimated mean; SD = standard deviation; TC = targeted child; TP = targeted parent.

Table 2. Means and standard deviations for the differential severity of exposure to parental alienation tactics between males and females

	Males		Females					(Two‐tailed)
	M	SD	M	SD	F (df)	η^2	t (df)	p	d
AP interfering with time spent with TC	3.11 [2.89, 3.34]	1.16	3.29 [3.09, 3.50]	1.14	1.34 (1, 223)	.006	−1.16 (223)	.248	−.155
AP implications of TP being dangerous	2.95 [2.71, 3.20]	1.27	3.06 [2.83, 3.29]	1.28	.39 (1, 223)	.002	−0.62 (223)	.535	−.083
AP interrogating the TC after time spent	2.91 [2.65, 3.17]	1.35	3.41 [3.23, 3.59]	1.00	9.92 (1, 223)	.043	−3.15 (223)	.002	−.422
AP speaking badly about the TP in front of the TC	3.15 [2.94, 3.36]	1.08	3.55 [3.41, 3.69]	0.75	10.43 (1, 223)	.045	−3.23 (223)	.001	−.433
AP attempts to damage loving connection	3.59 [3.45, 3.73]	0.73	3.72 [3.61, 3.83]	0.61	1.99 (1, 223)	.009	−1.41 (223)	.159	−.189
AP withdrawing love from TC when they express support for the TP	2.40 [2.15, 2.65]	0.12	2.78 [2.54, 3.02]	1.33	4.84 (1, 223)	.021	−2.20 (223)	.029	−.295
AP demanding TC to be loyal only to them (AP)	2.75 [2.51, 3.00]	1.25	3.14 [2.94, 3.35]	1.13	5.99 (1, 223)	.026	−2.45 (223)	.015	−.328
AP inappropriately disclosing information about TP to TC	2.88 [2.63, 3.12]	1.28	3.32 [3.12, 3.51]	1.07	7.95 (1, 223)	.035	−2.80 (222)	.005	−.376
AP attempts to completely remove TC from TP's life	3.39 [3.20, 3.58]	0.99	3.58 [3.41, 3.74]	0.90	2.14 (1, 223)	.010	−1.46 (223)	.145	−.196
AP cut TP off from receiving information about TC	3.68 [3.55, 3.80]	0.64	3.59 [3.44, 3.74]	0.84	.71 (1, 223)	.003	0.84 (223)	.401	.113
AP encouraging unhealthy TC and AP alliance	2.44 [2.17, 2.77]	1.40	2.95 [2.72, 3.18]	1.27	8.27 (1, 223)	.036	−2.88 (223)	.004	−.386
TC being defiant during time spent with TP	1.78 [1.51, 2.05]	1.38	2.61 [2.34, 2.88]	1.48	18.64 (1, 223)	.077	−4.32 (223)	<.001	−.579
AP utilising outside forces against TP	2.90 [2.62, 3.17]	1.41	2.99 [2.75, 3.24]	1.36	.27 (1, 223)	.001	−0.52 (223)	.602	−.070

Note. Bolded values indicate statistical significance. AP = alienating parent; F = analysis of variance statistic; d = Cohen's d effect size; df = degrees of freedom; M = estimated mean; η² = eta‐squared effect size; p = significance statistic; SD = standard deviation; t = correlational statistic; TC = targeted child; TP = targeted parent.

Table 3. Differential ratings of stress appraisal and affect between males and females

	Males		Females					(Two‐tailed)
	M	SD	M	SD	F (df)	η^2	t (df)	p	d
Parental responsibility	37.34 [34.77, 39.91]	10.37	40.16 [36.87, 43.45]	13.71	1.79 (1, 132)	<.001	−1.34 (132)	.184	.006
Parental satisfaction	36.08 [34.35, 37.72]	6.80	37.22 [35.63, 38.81]	6.81	1.04 (1, 137)	.011	−1.02 (137)	.309	.209
Parenting efficacy	21.31 [19.89, 22.73]	5.73	21.04 [19.75, 22.33]	5.57	.08 (1, 137)	.024	.28 (137)	.781	−.311
Parental support	48.73 [46.49, 50.98]	10.16	51.34 [49.20, 53.48]	9.93	2.13 (1, 170)	.009	−1.46 (170)	.146	.189
Satisfaction with parenting	48.36 [46.20, 50.52]	9.78	51.94 [49.83, 54.04]	9.76	5.61 (1, 166)	.033	−2.37 (166)	.019	−.387
Parental involvement	51.74 [49.47, 54.01]	10.25	48.44 [46.37, 50.52]	9.62	4.83 (1, 166)	.028	2.20 (166)	.029	.342
Parental communication	49.32 [47.14, 51.49]	9.83	50.61 [48.43, 52.80]	10.13	.99 (1, 167)	.016	−1.00 (167)	.321	.255
Parent limit setting	50.94 [48.76, 53.13]	9.87	49.38 [47.26, 51.50]	9.85	1.40 (1, 165)	<.001	1.19 (165)	.238	.004
Parent role orientation	51.94 [49.91, 53.97]	9.18	48.32 [46.08, 50.57]	10.41	4.98 (1, 165)	.029	2.23 (165)	.027	.347
Parental autonomy	49.62 [47.51, 51.74]	9.58	50.64 [48.41, 52.87]	10.34	.53 (1, 166)	.004	−.73 (166)	.468	−.125
Situational controllability‐by‐self	12.55 [11.49, 13.61]	4.18	11.72 [10.68, 12.77]	4.36	1.22 (1, 129)	.006	1.10 (129)	.272	−.151
Situational threat	16.18 [15.39, 16.96]	3.10	16.51 [15.75, 17.27]	3.61	.36 (1, 129)	.039	−.60 (129)	.548	.398
Situational centrality	18.05 [17.49, 18.61]	2.20	18.19 [17.61, 18.77]	2.42	.12 (1, 129)	.013	−.34 (129)	.731	.225
Situational uncontrollability	13.27 [12.32, 14.22]	3.74	13.03 [11.97, 14.09]	4.40	.12 (1, 129)	.009	.34 (129)	.733	.195
Situational controllability‐by‐others	7.66 [6.74, 8.58]	3.63	7.54 [6.69, 8.38]	3.52	.04 (1, 129)	<.001	.20 (129)	.842	−.076
Situational challenge	12.47 [11.61, 13.33]	3.38	12.30 [11.51, 13.09]	3.29	.08 (1, 129)	<.001	.28 (129)	.780	−.034
Situational stressfulness	16.61 [15.92, 17.31]	2.74	17.22 [16.61, 17.83]	2.54	1.71 (1, 129)	.001	−1.31 (129)	.193	.077
Stress	8.97 [7.80, 10.14]	4.57	9.61 [8.34, 10.89]	5.23	.55 (1, 126)	.001	−.74 (126)	.461	.073
Anxiety	5.75 [4.50, 7.01]	4.89	7.49 [6.05, 8.93]	5.91	3.25 (1, 126)	.024	−1.80 (126)	.074	.313
Depression	9.87 [8.32, 11.42]	6.05	9.21 [7.70, 10.72]	6.19	.37 (1, 126)	<.001	.61 (126)	.544	.057

Note. Bolded values indicate statistical significance. AP = alienating parent; F = analysis of variance statistic; d = Cohen's d effect size; df = degrees of freedom; M = estimated mean; η² = eta‐squared effect size; p = significance statistic; SD = standard deviation; t = correlational statistic; TC = targeted child; TP = targeted parent.

Table 4. Predicting stress appraisal, affect, and parental competence from severity of exposure to parental alienating behaviours

	n	R ^2	Adjusted R ^2	F	B [95% CI]	SE	β	t	p
Parental responsibility	134	.000	−.01	0.001	−.004 [−.255, .246]	.127	−.003	−0.03	.973
Parental satisfaction	139	.011	.004	1.49	.084 [−.052, .220]	.069	.104	1.22	.224
Parenting efficacy	139	.024	.02	3.31	−.102 [−.214, .009]	.056	−.153	−1.82	.071
Parental support	166	.009	.003	1.53	.108 [−.064, .280]	.087	.094	1.24	.219
Satisfaction with parenting	168	.002	−.005	0.25	−.044 [−.218, .130]	.088	−.039	−.500	.618
Parental involvement	168	.007	.001	1.13	−.093 [−.267, .080]	.088	−.082	−1.06	.290
Parental communication	169	.016	.010	2.71	−.144 [−.316, .029]	.087	−.126	−1.65	.102
Parent limit setting	167	.000	−.006	0.001	.002 [−.172, .177]	.088	.002	.026	.980
Parent role orientation	167	.006	.000	0.93	−.085 [−.260, .089]	.088	−.075	−.963	.337
Parental autonomy	168	.004	−.002	0.65	−.071 [−.245, .103]	.088	−.062	−.807	.421
Situational controllability‐by‐self	131	.006	−.002	0.73	−.039 [−.128, .051]	.045	−.075	−0.86	.393
Situational threat	131	.038	.03	5.11	0.073 [.009, .137]	.032	.195	2.26	.026
Situational centrality	131	.013	.01	1.64	.031 [−.017, .079]	.024	.112	1.28	.203
Situational uncontrollability	131	.009	.002	1.23	.048 [−.037, .133]	.043	.097	1.11	.270
Situational controllability‐by‐others	131	.001	−.01	0.19	−.016 [−.091, .058]	.038	−.038	−0.43	.668
Situational challenge	131	.000	−.01	0.04	−.007 [−.076, .063]	.025	−.017	−0.19	.848
Situational stressfulness	131	.001	−.01	0.19	.012 [−.043, .068]	.028	.038	0.44	.663
Stress	128	.001	−.01	−0.17	.022 [−.083, .126]	.053	.037	0.41	.682
Anxiety	128	.024	.02	3.08	.102 [−.013, .217]	.058	.154	1.75	.082
Depression	128	.001	−.01	0.10	.021 [−.108, .150]	.065	.029	0.32	.748

Note. Bolded values indicate statistical significance. Adjusted R²  = adjusted estimate of fit to model; β = beta standardised coefficient; B = unstandardized coefficient; CI = confidence interval; F = F statistic; n = sample size; p = significance statistic; R ² = estimate of fit to model; SE = standard error; t = correlational statistic.