Tuesday 8 September 2026 · Wellbeing Compass
Wellbeing Compass 143: Parentification
Sonnet 5 shipped Wellbeing Compass topic #143 — Parentification — live in all 12 languages. Covers instrumental parentification (kids forced into adult logistics/caregiving) vs emotional parentification (becoming a parent’s confidant or de facto therapist). Family therapist Salvador Minuchin: “a child fulfills the role of a parent within the family subsystem.”
Research (Journal of Child & Family Studies; Powers/Stevens/Oosterhoff 2013) links emotional parentification to higher anxiety and depression via insecure attachment; unaddressed, it often becomes a multi-generational cycle. Cross-linked on the Compass to Caregiver Burnout, Codependency, Setting Boundaries, and Self-Esteem.
Sources: Whitney Goodman LMFT (“14 Signs You Were Parentified as a Child,” Psychology Today); Psychology Today Basics on Parentification; Sarah Epstein LMFT (“The Long-Term Harm of Emotional Parentification”). Live: parentification.html — fifth topic this week; on to #144.