2023 Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 44-56
Parent-child role reversal is considered to be a risk factor for or a process in child abuse.
The aims of the current work were to provide an overview of previous studies on parent-child role reversal and to assemble relevant knowledge. Historically, role reversal was initially regarded as an issue with the individual parental and it was explained through approaches in developmental psychopathology. Later, role reversal was considered to be an issue with the relationship between the parent and child or as an issue with generational distortion of boundaries due to the marital relationship. In association with these emergence of these viewpoints, attachment theory and family systems were also used to describe role reversal. This context indicates that three theoretical perspectives were used to explain role reversal: developmental psychopathology, attachment theory, and family systems. Parentification and being a young carer conceptually resemble role reversal, and these two concepts were compared to role reversal. Parentification was regarded as a component of role reversal that was used to emphasize role reversal on the part of the child or as a concept identical to role reversal. In addition, role reversal and being a young carer had the same feature of a child providing support to or caring for a parent, but they differed because role reversal referred to emotional support while being a young carer mainly referred to instrumental support. Last, research questions regarding role reversal were discussed.
