Young Adults’ Individuation with Mother and Father as a Function of Dysfunctional Family Patterns, Gender and Parental Divorce

This study analyzes young adults’ individuation with mother (IM) and father (IF) as a function of dysfunctional family patterns (DFPs)—caught between, parental pressure, unfair caregiving, and feeling deprived—as well as gender and parental divorce. It examines if parental divorce is associated with the presence of DFP in the young adults’ family of origin and if the presence of DFP explains the association between parental divorce and lower levels of connectedness between offspring and fathers. A sample of 501 Spanish young adults (20–31 years old) answered the Spanish version of the YAGISS questionnaire (Pérez-Testor et al., 2008). Results showed that each DFP was associated with individuation in a different way. Parental divorce predicts the presence of all DFP and only parental pressure and feeling deprived explain the association between parental divorce and connectedness with father. Results varied as a function of the gender of parents and offspring. Implications for practice are discussed.