Growing Up with a Cheating Father: A Qualitative Analysis of Adult Daughters’ Family and Romantic Relationships

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of a father’s infidelity on his adult daughter’s experience of family and romantic relationships. The participants of this study were 13 women aged between 22–37 years. Their experiences were elicited through semi-structured interviews. MAXQDA−20 was used to assist in analyzing the data. The analysis revealed three main themes and associated sub-themes: family of origin, the effects of the father’s infidelity, and romantic relationships. The daughters tended to replicate the same patterns in their romantic relationships as those in their family of origin. Having experienced parental infidelity during their childhood, the daughters model their mothers and form relationships with partners similar to their fathers. That is, their fathers’ affairs lead to intergenerational trauma transmission for these women.

KEYWORDS:

• family relationships
• fathering
• parental infidelity
• trauma

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants for their participation in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data statement

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Informed consent

Informed consent was taken from the participants.