Experiences of the Parentified
This website includes the testimonies of Black, Afro-Latine, and Latine Dartmouth students who have experienced parentification.
Parentified children learn to take responsibility for themselves and others early on. They tend to fade into the woodwork and let others take center stage. This extends into adulthood—adult children may put others’ needs before their own. They may have difficulty accepting care and attention.
What is Parentification?
Refers to when a child has to take on above-age responsibilities that are usually (supposed to be) taken care by their primary caretakers or parents.
Parents and primary caregivers may give their children these responsibilities unintentionally for the following reasons:
– Language barriers
– Financial, food, or housing insecurity
– They faced parentification themselves when they were younger
– Parental mental health conditions
amongst other reasons.
Types of Parentification
Emotional Parentification:
Happens when the child is expected to provide emotional support, including providing advice during an argument, to their parent or primary caretaker
Instrumental Parentification:
Happens when the child is expected to provide physical labor, including completing household chores, for their parent or primary caretaker
Why Did I Choose to Focus on Parentification?
I am the eldest daughter of Salvadoran immigrants. I have spent a lot of my childhood accompanying my parents to their appointments to translate and advocate for them because several clinical professionals tend to dismiss their needs. With this, came a huge weight of responsibility as I navigated my role as being the primary caretaker, health proxy, older sibling, daughter, student, and worker. However, I would not change anything about my childhood because I wholeheartedly believe it helped me develop resilience. I wanted to learn more about how resilience develops despite parentified children facing challenges.
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