Prevalence of Adults Who Are the Targets of Parental Alienating Behaviors and Their Impact: Results from Three National Polls.

Estimating the prevalence of parental alienation is challenging because not all children who
are exposed to parental alienating behaviors become alienated. The purpose of the current study was to determine the proportion of adults who indicate being alienated from a child using three national online panels that are representative of adults from the United States (two polls) and Canada (one poll) and to determine the mental health impact of parental alienating behaviors. Results from the first two polls indicate that the prevalence of parents who feel they are being alienated from their children is higher than originally estimated: 35.5% (of 273) in the U.S. and 32% (of 397) in Canada. Using another means of assessment for the third poll, we found that 39.1% (of 594) of parents in the U.S. are the nonreciprocating targets of parental alienating behaviors, which is over 22 million parents and confirms previous estimates that did not differentiate between reciprocating and nonreciprocating parents. Of these, 6.7% of the parents had children who were moderately to severely alienated, which is at least 1.3% of the U.S. population of children. We also found alienated parents had greater levels of depression, trauma symptoms, and risk for suicide. Discussion will center on the ramifications of these findings for researchers and practitioners, and the need to differentiate between families in which parental alienating behaviors are reciprocal (typically resulting in loyalty conflicts) versus nonreciprocal (typically resulting in parental alienation).

Jennifer Harman, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology, Colorado State University. Dr. Harman earned her doctorate in social psychology from the University of Connecticut in 2005. She also has a master’s degree in psychological counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her primary research is in the area of intimate and family relationships, most specifically, on how interpersonal and social factors such as power affect families after separation and divorce. She has published numerous peerreviewed articles on parental alienating behaviors, with a focus on how it is a form of family violence.


The interview was filmed on location at the PASG 2019 International Conference (Parental Alienation Study Group) in Philadelphia, USA, in September 2019. The video is produced by Equal Parenting Rights Association, Iceland, www.foreldrajafnretti.is.

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Other specialists who talked about Parental Alienation at the PASG 2019 International Conference:
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Amy Baker The FourFactor Model:    • Parental Alienation  The FourFactor...  
William Bernet Historical Highlights:    • Parental Alienation  Historical high...  
Ben Burgess Crazy Making Issues:    • Parental Alienation  Crazy Making Is...  
Linda Gottlieb Reunification and treating alienated children:    • Parental Alienation  Reunification a...  
Jennifer Harman Targeted parents and the effects:    • Parental Alienation  Targeted parent...  
Steven Miller Evidence Based Science:    • Parental Alienation  Evidence Based ...  
Karen Woodall A TransGenerational Trauma:    • Parental Alienation  A TransGenerat...  
Nick Woodall A Splitting of the Self:    • Parental Alienation  A Splitting of ...  
Shawn Wygant Third Party Alienation:    • Parental Alienation  Third Party Ali...