Rebecca A. Jones

Family Unpredictability, Parental Alcoholism, and the Development of Parentification

The current study sought to examine whether parental alcoholism and family unpredictability contribute to the development of parentification, when children take on parental roles within the family. Participants (N = 123) from 10 outpatient clinics completed surveys that included the Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale (Ross, 1999), the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (Jones, 1982) and the Parentification Questionnaire (Sessions & Jurkovic, 1986). Two hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that family unpredictability and parental alcoholism each made independent contributions to childhood parentification. We discuss clinical implications and suggestions for future research.

Codependency: A grass roots construct's relationship to shame-proneness, low self-esteem, and childhood parentification

This article analyzes the relationships among four independent variables and the construct of codependency. Results indicate that shameproneness, self-esteem, and parentification are significantly related to codependent characteristics. Results also indicate that guilt-proneness is inversely related to codependency, reinforcing the hypothesis that codependency represents a shame-based, as opposed to a guilt-based, organization of the self. Treatment recommendations are offered related to alleviating shame, raising self-esteem, and resolving parentification.

Parentification and the Impostor Phenomenon: An Empirical Investigation

This article examines the hypothesis that individuals who were parentified as children are more likely to report impostor feelings in adulthood. A sample of 213 graduate students were given the Parentification Questionnaire (Sessions & Jurkovic, 1986) and Clances Impostor Phenomenon Scale (Clance, 1985). Results indicated that parentification and the impostor phenomenon are moderately correlated (r = .37). No significant gender differences were found for either construct. With regard to racial/ethnic differences, no significant differences were found in parentification scores; however, Caucasians endorsed significantly higher impostor phenomenon scores than African Americans. The results suggest that the impostor phenomenon can be explained, in part, as a significant long-term effect of childhood parentification.

Relationship among childhood parentification, splitting, and dissociation: Preliminary findings

Abstract On the basis of self-reports front 124 undergraduate students, empirical support was found for the hypothesis that childhood parentification (i.e., the reversal of child and parent roles) is significantly related to defensive splitting (on the Gerson Splitting Scale [M. J. Gerson, 1984] in adulthood even when the effects of dissociation (measured by Dissociative Experiences Scale [E. M. Bernstein & F. W. Putnam, 1986] are already accounted for. In contrast, childhood parentification was not found to be significantly related to the use of cognitive dissociation when the effects of splitting were accounted for. This finding is particularly important because splitting and dissociation are often related and sometimes confused with one another in the psychology literature. The authors relate these results to earlier findings that parentification is associated with both masochistic and narcissistic personality styles in adults and that individuals who have been parentified have diminished capacities fo...

THE IMPACT OF THE SIBLING IN CLINICAL PRACTICE: TRANSFERENCE AND COUNTERTRANSFERENCE DYNAMICS

For many years, the impact of sibling relationships on psychological development has been neglected in the literature, overshadowed by the role of the parent–child relationship. As a result, attention to sibling dynamics and sibling transference as valuable information for case formulation and treatment interventions has not been used to its maximum potential. The authors demonstrate how deliberate consideration of sibling dynamics as well as the transferences and countertransferences associated with those dynamics can facilitate treatment. Several important sibling dynamics are discussed, including siblings’ influences on identity development; sibling rivalry, jealousy, envy, guilt, and resentment; and sibling attachment. The impact of sibling dynamics on adult love relationships is discussed, as are potential effects of sibling abuse and sibling bereavement. Examples of how these dynamics can manifest themselves in transference and countertransference reactions and suggestions for working with those dynamics are illustrated with clinical examples.

Managing Transference and Countertransference in the Treatment of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT Gay, lesbian and bisexual (GLB) survivors of childhood sexual abuse must endure the detrimental intrapsychic and interpersonal effects of the traumatic abuse as well as societal intolerance and discrimination related to their core identity. The adverse psychological effects of the sexual abuse and specific developmental issues related to a homosexual orientation may be additive in terms of the deleterious impact on the survivors interpersonal functioning. The relational difficulties these individuals experience will inevitably manifest themselves in the therapeutic relationship via the transference-countertransference matrix. Issues such as shame, trust, and boundaries are some of the clinical themes that may be particularly relevant with this population of survivors. The authors suggest some therapeutic intervention within the context of potential transference-countertransference paradigms.

The Teaching Alliance Inventory: Evaluating the student-instructor relationship in clinical and counselling psychology training

The Teaching Alliance Inventory (TAI) was developed to measure the quality of the student-instructor relationship in graduate clinical and counselling psychology classrooms. Based on Bordins (1983) original concept of the alliance as fundamental to the change process in psychotherapy, we developed the TAI to measure aspects of the classroom relationship that may be fundamental to learning essential skills of counselling and clinical psychology. Factor analysis revealed six subscales, four representing interpersonal variables not evaluated in traditional teaching effectiveness measures. We demonstrated internal consistency and split-half reliability with a large sample of graduate students and described evidence for the scales face validity and content validity. Construct validity was supported by significant correlations between the TAI and its subscales with an established measure of teaching effectives and its logically related subscales (SEEQ; Marsh, 1987). The TAI may supplement traditional assessments of instructor quality by providing feedback regarding interpersonal impact in the classroom.

Boundary Disturbances and Eating Disorder Symptoms

Female graduate students in counseling and clinical psychology retrospectively rated maternal and paternal boundaries in their families of origin. Subscales of the Eating Disorders Inventory-3 were used to assess disordered eating, including drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, bulimia symptoms, and overall risk. Results indicated that maternal enmeshment and maternal psychological control were related to disordered eating. Further, daughters who reported that their mothers shielded them from parents’ conflict and adult concerns were less likely to report drive for thinness or bulimic tendencies. With respect to paternal boundary problems, paternal infantilization (overprotection) was significantly related to daughters’ drive for thinness.

Effectiveness of individualized, integrative outpatient treatment for females with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of an individualized outpatient program was investigated in the treatment of bulimia nervosa (BN) and anorexia nervosa (AN). Participants included 151 females who received outpatient eating disorder treatment in the partial hospitalization program, the intensive outpatient program, or a combination of the two programs. Outcome measures included the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-2), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), frequency of binge eating and purging, and mean body weight. Findings included significant increases in weight for the AN group, reductions in binge eating frequency for the BN group, and reductions in EDI-2 and BDI-II scores and purging frequency for both groups. This study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of a multimodal program for the treatment of both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.