Living within a Broken Vow: The Impact of Parental Infidelity among Late Adolescents in Establishing Romantic Relationships

The present study aimed to know the possible impact of parental infidelity among late adolescents in establishing romantic relationships with a significant other. It employed a qualitative research and used the approach on social constructivism in which it described the adolescents' experiences about parental infidelity as numerous and subjective as they interact with the social world. A survey was conducted in identifying twelve (12) participants, ages 15 to 19, which experienced parental infidelity from University of the East-Manila enrolled in academic year 2014-2015. One (1) hour in-depth interviews were recorded and guided by the researchers' validated aide memoir. All recorded interactions with the participants were transcribed into field text. The participants' responses were carefully analyzed through Thematic Analysis and Collaizi's procedure. The researchers found that the impact of parental infidelity among late adolescents in establishing relationships is a process and is best depicted through a cross, or The C.R.O.S.S. in Infidelity, with five conceptual themes which also signify the process that late adolescents usually go through after discovering their parents' infidel behavior. The themes conceptualized were: reaction; circumspection; self-recognition; stagnation; and overturn. The C.R.O.S.S In Infidelity may serve as an aid in counseling as well as a guide in creating an intervention program to help these late adolescents cope with the experiences of parental infidelity.