Cutting off family members is becoming more and more common, leading experts to consider the drivers of the division.A 2025 YouGov survey found that 38% of U.S.adults are estranged from at least one family member, including siblings, parents, children or grandparents.Based on his research and work in the field of family estrangement, Dr.
Richard L.Blake, a British psychologist and author based in Austin, Texas, shared the following five factors that he believes commonly contribute to fractured family relationships.'DOORMAT MOM' CUT OFF BY DAUGHTER AMID ESTRANGEMENT TREND: ‘COMPLETELY BLINDSIDED’A longstanding study of more than 2,000 mother-adult child relationships found that "value dissimilarity" was a strong predictor of estrangement, suggesting that differing beliefs may play a large role in family rifts.Cutting off family members is becoming more and more common, leading experts to consider the drivers of the division.
(iStock)"That could be political values, that could be gender ideology," Blake told Fox News Digital."There were people more likely to cut off someone for having a different opinion than for people who have done serious violent crimes," he said."So certainly, political differences are a big problem."Heavy social media use has been linked to poorer parent-child relationships.
A study of nearly 9,800 teens found that spending more than two hours a day on social media was linked to significantly greater odds of negative relationships with one or both parents.Blake believes social media may also normalize family estrangement by exposing users to viral "no contact" stories and encouraging what he described as "word-of-mouth mimicry."SECOND LADY USHA VANCE GETS CANDID ABOUT NEW BABY, JUGGLING FOUR CHILDREN AND MOTHERHOOD"Someone might see a video on TikTok — 'I cut off my parents, and I'm much happier now.They were toxic narcissistic boundary crossers.
And now I'm great,'" he said."And people mimic that.
Or they think, 'Oh, this person's get...