Keep It Quiet: Mother–Daughter Parentification and Difficulties in Separation–Individuation Shaping Daughters’ Authentic/True Self and Self-Silencing: A Mediation Model

The current study employed a mediation model to explore the contribution of mother–adolescent daughter (N = 208, M_age = 15.02) parentification and difficulties in separation–individuation to these adolescent girls’ authenticity/true self and self-silencing. Specifically, the model examined whether mother–daughter separation–individuation would mediate the relationships between mother–daughter parentification and motives for false-self behaviors and authenticity, which in turn would mediate the links between mother– daughter separation–individuation and self-silencing. The findings indicated that parentification was positively correlated with girls’ difficulties in separation–individuation, which in turn was negatively correlated with girls’ authenticity, and through it, was positively correlated with girls’ self-silencing. These findings highlight the negative consequences of parentification on girls’ self-system and point to the role of difficulties in separation–individuation and authenticity as mechanisms through which parentification contributes to Israeli adolescent girls’ self-silencing.