Psychology Today | 17.04.2026 19:04Parental Alienation (PA) is a term used to describe the refusal of a child or adolescent to engage with one parent due to the intentional or unintentional negative influence and/or manipulation of the other parent, often in the context of a high-conflict relationship breakdown, separation, or divorce. The short- and long-term negative impacts of PA on children and adolescents — who are already stressed, saddened, and confused by the myriad disruptions and breakdown of their family unit — can be devastating.
