An examination of the impact of parental alienation on the adaptation process to divorce: An evaluation through the perspectives of children and parents

Divorce is a phenomenon whose impact is increasingly felt and whose severity is increasing worldwide. Divorce can be both a crisis and a process of change and development for individuals. The positive and negative consequences of divorce affect children and parents in many ways. This study aims to examine the impact of parental alienation, which occurs during and/or after the divorce process, on the divorce adjustment process and to investigate whether variables such as self-esteem and children's secure attachment to their parents influence this process. The study sample consisted of 85 children aged 9-12 and 20 parents from families whose divorce cases had been or are currently being filed in the Family Courts of the Antalya Courthouse. Data collection tools included the Child Personal Information Form (Sociodemographic Information Form), the Baker Alienation Scale to determine parental alienation, the Children's Adjustment to Divorce Inventory to determine children's adjustment to the divorce process, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale for Children to determine children's self-esteem, and the Kerns Secure Attachment Scale to determine children's attachment to their parents. Furthermore, in-depth interviews were conducted with the parents using semi-structured questions developed by the researcher to obtain information about the parents' post-divorce experiences, their relationships with their children, and their awareness of parental alienation. The research was conducted using mixed methods. To analyze the collected quantitative data, SPSS 27.0 was used, and independent groups t-test analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and mediator variable model analysis were performed using Hayes' Macro 4.2 plugin. Maxqda Analytics Pro 2020 was used for qualitative data analysis, and the resulting research outputs were evaluated using content analysis. As a result of the statistical analyses conducted, it was observed that there was a significant difference between divorce adjustment and parental alienation, secure attachment to mother, secure attachment to father scores and demographic variables. According to the research results, it was found that children living with their mothers had a higher adjustment to divorce compared to children living with their fathers. Another finding was that children who had less frequent contact with the parent they did not live with had a higher adjustment to divorce. According to the analyses conducted with the research variables, it was concluded that children who experienced alienation from their fathers had a higher level of adjustment to divorce compared to children who did not experience alienation from either parent. The analysis results showed that an increase in children's self-esteem levels caused a decrease in the level of adjustment to divorce. Another finding was that a high level of secure attachment to the mother positively predicted children's level of adjustment to divorce. In addition, according to the findings obtained in the model analysis, it was seen that secure attachment to mother had a marginal, partial mediating role in the relationship between the divorce adjustment variable and self-esteem. When the findings obtained were examined; It is thought that parental alienation, self-esteem and secure attachment variables are factors affecting adjustment to divorce, and the findings confirm the literature from different perspectives. As a result of the research conducted, it was thought that the knowledge and awareness of parents and judicial personnel about the divorce process and the phenomenon of parental alienation should be increased and that these issues should be taken into account in the conduct of custody processes, that academic studies on parental alienation and adaptation to divorce should be increased and that evaluations should be made on how the outcomes of the studies can be reflected in practice for the benefit of individuals.