Parental Bonding and Parental Alienation as Correlates of Psychological Maltreatment in Adults in Intact and Non-intact Families

Seven hundred and thirty nine (739) Italian adults completed a survey about (A) the extent to which each parent engaged in parental alienation behaviors (B) the extent to which each parent engaged in psychological maltreatment and (C) a measure of parental bonding for each parent. Associations between these variables were examined for each parent and separately for participants whose parents remained married and those who divorced/separated. Results revealed that across the board, parental alienation was associated with psychological maltreatment over and above the effects of parental bonding. These data are understood in the context of a relationship-specific model of psychological maltreatment in which the child experiences parental acceptance of the self as distinct from parental acceptance of the child’s relationship with the other parent.