Parentification: a review paper

Abstract

The evolving nature of family and parenting styles has introduced a new concept called ‘Parentification’. While initial understanding of parentification was based on the projection of parental features onto an individual, today it refers to the conditions that compel a child to ascribe the role of an adult in early age. Parentification has been understood across two main subtypes: Instrumental Parentification and Emotional parentification. However, the concept of parentification has not been explored intensively. This paper hence tries to bring together what is already known about the phenomena of parentification across various cultures, the consequences of parentification on children and the scope for further research on the topic.