How do adults on social media describe their experiences as a child of divorce? The purpose of this study was to explore how posts on the social media platform Reddit are used by people to reflect on their parents’ divorce when they were younger. Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. The platform allows users to post content such as links, posts, images, and discussion boards. Posts on the website are organized by subjects called “subreddits”. In these subreddits, users discuss topics from news, philosophy, entertainment, and life experiences. Existing public data of archived and recently posted discussion boards in the subreddits r/Divorce, r/teenagers, r/AskMen, r/AskWomen, r/Parenting, r/AskReddit, r/AITA (Am I The A-hole), r/random thoughts, r/Addiction, and r/relationships were analyzed using values analysis to provide insight on what and how people shared their experiences as a child of divorce. The implications of analyzing these Reddit posts sheds light on users’ thought processes and emotions during their parents’ divorce. Thus, this study contributes to an understanding of not only the affordances of social media as an emotional outlet but encourages discussion on why platforms like Reddit may be used as a tool to express and reflect on past struggles.
","abstract_html":"<p>How do adults on social media describe their experiences as a child of divorce? The purpose of this study was to explore how posts on the social media platform Reddit are used by people to reflect on their parents’ divorce when they were younger. Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. The platform allows users to post content such as links, posts, images, and discussion boards. Posts on the website are organized by subjects called “subreddits”. In these subreddits, users discuss topics from news, philosophy, entertainment, and life experiences. Existing public data of archived and recently posted discussion boards in the subreddits r/Divorce, r/teenagers, r/AskMen, r/AskWomen, r/Parenting, r/AskReddit, r/AITA (Am I The A-hole), r/random thoughts, r/Addiction, and r/relationships were analyzed using values analysis to provide insight on what and how people shared their experiences as a child of divorce. The implications of analyzing these Reddit posts sheds light on users’ thought processes and emotions during their parents’ divorce. Thus, this study contributes to an understanding of not only the affordances of social media as an emotional outlet but encourages discussion on why platforms like Reddit may be used as a tool to express and reflect on past struggles.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Joseph, Tamera A"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lisa Babel"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z","subjects":["Reddit","Divorce","Mental Health","Adult Children of Divorce","Child of Divorce","Positive Coping Skills","Negative Coping Skills","Child Psychology","Counseling Psychology","Developmental Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1098","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lisa Babel"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Joseph, Tamera A"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-06-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Reddit","Divorce","Mental Health","Adult Children of Divorce","Child of Divorce","Positive Coping Skills","Negative Coping Skills","Child Psychology","Counseling Psychology","Developmental Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1098"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["How do adults on social media describe their experiences as a child of divorce? The purpose of this study was to explore how posts on the social media platform Reddit are used by people to reflect on their parents’ divorce when they were younger. Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. The platform allows users to post content such as links, posts, images, and discussion boards. Posts on the website are organized by subjects called “subreddits”. In these subreddits, users discuss topics from news, philosophy, entertainment, and life experiences. Existing public data of archived and recently posted discussion boards in the subreddits r/Divorce, r/teenagers, r/AskMen, r/AskWomen, r/Parenting, r/AskReddit, r/AITA (Am I The A-hole), r/random thoughts, r/Addiction, and r/relationships were analyzed using values analysis to provide insight on what and how people shared their experiences as a child of divorce. The implications of analyzing these Reddit posts sheds light on users’ thought processes and emotions during their parents’ divorce. Thus, this study contributes to an understanding of not only the affordances of social media as an emotional outlet but encourages discussion on why platforms like Reddit may be used as a tool to express and reflect on past struggles.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["How Adults Use Reddit to Cope with Being Children of Divorce"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lisa Babel"],"dc:creator":["Joseph, Tamera A"],"dc:date.available":["2023-06-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["How do adults on social media describe their experiences as a child of divorce? The purpose of this study was to explore how posts on the social media platform Reddit are used by people to reflect on their parents’ divorce when they were younger. Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. The platform allows users to post content such as links, posts, images, and discussion boards. Posts on the website are organized by subjects called “subreddits”. In these subreddits, users discuss topics from news, philosophy, entertainment, and life experiences. Existing public data of archived and recently posted discussion boards in the subreddits r/Divorce, r/teenagers, r/AskMen, r/AskWomen, r/Parenting, r/AskReddit, r/AITA (Am I The A-hole), r/random thoughts, r/Addiction, and r/relationships were analyzed using values analysis to provide insight on what and how people shared their experiences as a child of divorce. The implications of analyzing these Reddit posts sheds light on users’ thought processes and emotions during their parents’ divorce. Thus, this study contributes to an understanding of not only the affordances of social media as an emotional outlet but encourages discussion on why platforms like Reddit may be used as a tool to express and reflect on past struggles.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1098"],"dc:subject":["Reddit","Divorce","Mental Health","Adult Children of Divorce","Child of Divorce","Positive Coping Skills","Negative Coping Skills","Child Psychology","Counseling Psychology","Developmental Psychology"],"dc:title":["How Adults Use Reddit to Cope with Being Children of Divorce"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z"}