| Previous research has demonstrated that the experience of childhood parentification can have negative long-term consequences. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parentification and adjustment to college and to explore hypothesized differences in parentification along various demographic measures. One hundred ninety female college students participated in the study, which involved completing a demographics questionnaire, the Parentification Questionnaire (PQ; Sessions & Jurkovic, 1986), and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ; Baker & Siryk, 1989). Results showed that parentification was significantly negatively related to three of the five measures of college adjustment, including emotional adjustment, social adjustment, and overall adjustment to college. Further analysis revealed that emotional adjustment and participant age were the best predictors of parentification, suggesting that parentification primarily impacts emotional adjustment. No significant relationships were found between parentification and the demographic variables. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed. |
