Year of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
Communication Studies
Department or School/College
Department of Communication Studies
Committee Chair
Dr. Christina Yoshimura
Commitee Members
Dr. Heather Voorhees, Dr. Sara Polanchek
Keywords
estrangement, parent child relationship, reddit, relational dialectics theory, qualitative, family communcation
Subject Categories
Interpersonal and Small Group Communication
Abstract
How do adult children estranged from their parent(s) create meaning and make sense of their estrangement in Reddit posts on the subreddit r/EstrangedAdultChild? This study analyzed Reddit posts written by estranged adult children for a presumed audience of other estranged adult children. Using relational dialectics theory (RDT) as a lens for analysis, this research examined the competing discourses that influence the meaning-making and sense-making processes of estranged adult children in their posts when the intended audience is fellow estranged adult children. Seventy-four posts from r/EstrangedAdultChild, authored by adult children who self-identified as estranged from at least one parent, were collected from Reddit, coded for themes, and analyzed through the RDT framework. The results revealed two centripetal discourses of parent-child connectedness and parental expectations alongside one centrifugal discourse focused on the estrangement experience. The interplay of these discourses illustrates how estranged adult children derive new meaning from their experiences and offers valuable insights into the estrangement process.
Recommended Citation
Lane, Grant W., ""I've Never Felt a Pain Like This" A Dialogic Analysis of Parent-Child Estrangement Narratives on Reddit" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12446.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12446
© Copyright 2025 Grant W. Lane