Empowering children in coping with their parents' separation; the views of young adults looking back on their childhood experiences

Kay-Flowers, S ORCID: 0000-0003-2687-8818 (2025) Empowering children in coping with their parents' separation; the views of young adults looking back on their childhood experiences. Child & Family Social Work. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1356-7500

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Abstract

Parental separation is a process that impacts on children’s lives before parents decide to separate, during the physical separation and in the adjustment that follows, which may continue for many years. This study draws on the retrospective accounts of 30 young adults (aged 18-30) who experienced parental separation in childhood, to identify what they said was important to them at the time and what helped them to ‘accommodate’ the changes parental separation brought over time, thereby giving ‘voice’ to young adults’ childhood experiences. Using a fictionalised case study scenario to create a video clip linked to an online questionnaire, participants were asked how they experienced their parents’ separation and the post-separation changes that affected their lives. Their accounts were categorised according to the level of ‘accommodation’ (their satisfaction and acceptance) shown. In twenty accounts separation was seen as a positive improvement in their life and showed a high level of accommodation. Focusing on these accounts this paper deepens understandings of children’s lived experience of parental separation, particularly in relation to the intersecting dynamics affecting their everyday lives and identifies ways in which children’s coping ability can be enhanced through families’ life practices, and the opportunity to talk to someone to about their experiences.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1607 Social Work; 1701 Psychology; 1801 Law; Social Work; 4409 Social work; 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	Wiley
Date of acceptance:	13 June 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	10 July 2025
Date Deposited:	30 Jun 2025 10:20
Last Modified:	10 Jul 2025 10:45
DOI or ID number:	10.1111/cfs.70004
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26664

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