How Adults Use Reddit to Cope with Being Children of Divorce

Author

Tamera A. Joseph, CUNY City CollegeFollow

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Lisa Babel

Keywords

Reddit, Divorce, Mental Health, Adult Children of Divorce, Child of Divorce, Positive Coping Skills, Negative Coping Skills

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.

Recommended Citation

Joseph, Tamera A., "How Adults Use Reddit to Cope with Being Children of Divorce" (2023). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1098