Emerging Ideas. Family estrangement and its association with life satisfaction and depressiveness in adulthood

Objective

The aim was (a) to assess the association between family estrangement and psychological well-being in adulthood, (b) to investigate potential differences in this association by type of relationship (intergenerational vs. siblings), and (c) to assess whether estrangement from multiple family relations (parents and siblings) is associated with cumulative disadvantage.

Background

Family estrangement is a quantitatively relevant phenomenon, whose association with psychological well-being in adulthood has been insufficiently investigated.

Method

Analysis of data from the German Family Panel (pairfam; N = 5,245) involved running ordinary least squares regressions on the association between previous experiences of family estrangement (in Waves 5, 7, 9, and 11) with respondents' (aged 24–48 years) life satisfaction and depressiveness in Wave 11.

Results

Family estrangement was negatively correlated with psychological well-being. The strength of this relationship did not substantially differ by type of relationship (parents vs. siblings). Associations were strongest if estrangement from both parental and sibling ties was reported.

Conclusion

Family estrangement is significantly associated with reduced psychological well-being. This applies to vertical and horizontal ties in the family system. Co-occurrence of estrangement from parents and siblings bears particularly strong negative relationships with psychological well-being.

Implications

Researchers and practitioners should consider spillovers of estrangement processes among family members and be aware of cumulative disadvantages this might bring about.