In this master’s thesis, the author explores the connection between experiencing parentification during childhood, and the fear of intimacy and relationship satisfaction in adulthood. The theoretical part starts with an extensive critical analytical overview of existing domestic and foreign literature and continues with an in-depth examination of parentification in the context of relational family therapy. In the empirical part, the results of a survey of 212 people who are married or in a serious relationship, are presented. The sample consisted of 30 males and 182 females aged 20-70. The survey results showed that the connection between the combined result of the Parentification Inventory(PI) including its distinct dimensions PI (PFP) and PI (SFP), and fear of intimacy (dimension FIS) and relationship satisfaction (dimension KMS) is not statistically significant. The only exception is the distinct dimension PI (PBP) – ‘perceived benefits of parentification’, which shows a statistically significant negative connection with fear of intimacy and positive connection with relationship satisfaction. The results show that there is no statistically significant difference between men and women in the level of fear of intimacy and in perceiving relationship satisfaction. They also show that there is a statistically significant difference between married and unmarried participants in the combined PI result, where on average the married participants achieved a lower score than the unmarried participants. The same applies to PI (PFP) – ‘parent focused parentification’, where on average the married participants again achieved a lower score.
|
