From childhood witnessing to adult experience: The transmission extending from the implicit parent to the self and relationship

The family stands out as the primary domain of experience that shapes an individual's self and relational patterns from the very first moments of life. Healthy families are built upon healthy marriages, as the marital relationship constitutes the core of the family structure. The marital relationship is not solely a matter concerning the couple but also a phenomenon with significant reflections on children. It is well-established that the interparental relationship leaves enduring effects that begin in childhood and extend into adulthood, and that these effects are transmitted across generations, reflecting in children's own future marital relationships. However, a conceptual and theoretical gap exists in explaining how children experience and interpret this relationship in their inner world, how it subsequently reflects upon their self and relationships, and what the embedded dynamics of this transmission process are and how the process operates. Proceeding from this gap, this research aims to develop an original process model that explains how individuals make sense of witnessing the interparental relationship in childhood under specific contextual conditions, through which affective and interactional processes these experiences are transformed into internal and relational patterns, and how they are later reproduced, especially in the context of their own marital relationships in adulthood. In line with this goal, grounded theory, a qualitative research design, was adopted to develop a new theoretical model based on conceptual categories derived from participant experiences. The participants of the study consisted of a total of 13 individuals, including 8 women and 5 men, selected through criterion and theoretical sampling methods. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher, and in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant in 2 to 6 sessions, with total durations ranging from 1 hour 53 minutes to 6 hours 12 minutes. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously until theoretical saturation was achieved, following the principle of constant comparative analysis inherent in grounded theory. All data were transferred to MAXQDA-20 and conceptualized, relationships were established, and the core category was determined through open, axial, and selective coding stages. The process model was then visualized via a diagram. The findings are structured around the core category, defined as the transmission extending from the implicit parent to the self and relationship, and present a process model explaining the dynamics of this transmission. The analysis yielded ten main themes, each comprising various subcategories. The study revealed that the interparental relationship functions as an implicit parent within the family context, profoundly shaping children's self- organization and relational patterns. Children were observed to distinctly differentiate their parents' parenting and spousal roles; furthermore, depending on the interparental dynamic, they construct spousal parent representations regarding the nature of their parents as spouses. These representations were not merely cognitive definitions but were structured together with accompanying affects, unmet needs, fears, anxieties, and inferences derived from these psychological dynamics. Furthermore, it was found that participants internalized their spousal mother and spousal father representations along with the accompanying psychological dynamics, transforming them into self-representations. As a result of the analyses, four types of spousal parent representations that transformed into self-representations were identified. These are the internalized spousal mother, opposing spousal mother, internalized spousal father, and opposing spousal father representations. These representations were observed to manifest in different ways at different times, depending on the participants' current life experiences, inner processes, and interpersonal relationships. All of these representations were found to be integrated into the participants' self-organization and functioned not as independent structures but in a dynamic interaction and conflict. This dynamic organization was determined to be outwardly expressed in participants' own marital relationships, specifically through the spousal roles they enacted and their perceptions of their partners. In addition to these findings, beyond the common dynamic of transmission process from the interparental relationship to the individual's own relationship, it was revealed that certain person-specific factors also intervene in different contexts, influencing the trajectory of this process. The results were discussed in detail within the framework of the relevant literature, and practical implications and recommendations were offered for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Thus, this study aims to provide a holistic contribution at the intersection of research, practice, and policy.