The Role of Emotional Parentification in Linking Psychological Abuse and Parental Conflict to Adolescents' Internalised Problems

ABSTRACT Previous studies suggest that emotional parentification contributes to internalised problems in children and adolescents and may be one of the key mechanisms linking adverse family experiences to adolescent internalised problems. Qualitative studies indicate that emotional parentification may emerge as a coping mechanism in response to psychological abuse and parental conflict, yet quantitative studies on this relationship are lacking. Additionally, little research has explored protective factors in emotional parentification. This study examined the relationship between psychological abuse, parental conflict, emotional parentification and adolescents' internalised problems. It also investigated whether peer acceptance moderates these associations. A sample of 701 Croatian adolescents ( M age = 15.17, 51.4% girls) participated. Structural equation modelling and latent variable interaction were used for analysis. Findings show that psychological abuse is linked to emotional parentification, which in turn is related to internalised problems. In addition, emotional parentification mediates the relationship between psychological abuse and internalised problems. However, parental conflict does not predict emotional parentification, and peer relationships do not significantly moderate these associations. This study, framed within attachment theory and the emotional security hypothesis, highlights the need for interventions targeting psychological abuse to reduce emotional parentification and its negative effects. These findings emphasise the importance of family‐based support strategies to mitigate adolescents' internalised problems.