The association between parental divorce and its potential negative impact on children’s psychological functioning is well-established (Lansford, 2009). While not all children of divorce have adjustment problems, divorce has been associated with poor school performance, behavioral maladjustment and emotional problems (Amato, 2010). There is evidence, however, that divorce itself is not the proximate cause of children’s mental health problems. Specific parental negative behaviors contribute most to children’s maladjustment (Amato, 2010).
One parental behavior which has been associated with negative outcomes is parental denigration (Rowen and Emory, 2018). Parental denigration is characterized by disparaging comments made by one parent about the other parent in front of their children. Beyond being associated with their own direct negative outcomes, children exposed to negative comments from one parent about another are at risk to experience problems in their relationship with each of their parents (including the denigrator). While the impact of online parental denigration has not been widely studied, the literature on parental denigration seems applicable. Children exposed to denigration and disparagement, online or in person, are at substantial risk for negative outcomes.
This writer has spent over fifteen years in the practice of consulting, treating, and evaluating children and families in a variety of settings. These have included family therapy, consulting with treatment teams with high risk children, lecturing to school administrators about student mental health issues, and evaluating issues including emotional attachment and parental bonding for the legal community. This clinical work confirms the perspective reflective in the literature, that there is a direct correlation between parental disparagement and harm to children.
In sum, disparagement is one of a variety of destructive parental behaviors which harm children whose parents are divorced or are divorcing. No matter the medium (e.g. in person, in writing, online) children are harmed when exposed to parental denigration.