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Dr. Lisa M. Hooper and her team at the University of Iowa Research Lab define parentification

as a type of role reversal and boundary distortion in which children or adolescents assume developmentally

inappropriate levels of responsibility in their family.

In the parentification phenomenon, the overarching role of the parentified youth can be described

as that of caregiver, caring for others at the expense of caring for self. It is often clinically observed and empirically

examined along two dimensions. Instrumental and emotional parentification. Instrumental

parentification primarily involves completing physical tasks for the family, such as taking

care of relatives with serious medical conditions, grocery shopping,

paying bills, or ensuring that a younger sibling attends and does well in school.

Emotional parentification often involves a child or adolescent taking on the role and

responsibilities of confidant, secret keeper, or emotional healer for family members.

Parentification is often observed in families where the parent or caregiver has experienced a serious

medical condition or mental health disorder. Parental substance use and abuse are also common

in families where parentification exists.

I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is, something was wrong. You think you know me, you don't know me, at home.

The American Cancer Society reports that approximately one in five children have serious emotional

symptoms a year or more after a parent's death. A 2011 study showed that two months after losing a

parent, one and four children were depressed. If the parent has a long and difficult battle with cancer,

the child may have started grieving before the actual death. Sometimes, emotional symptoms can

become more severe and interfere with the child or the family's life. Having cancer is hard,

...