I would say it depends on the person and her symptoms may be attributed to either biological or sociological factors, i.e. it may be hereditary or she could be reacting to issues from her past.
This is very interesting.....
My wife's mother did the exact same thing to her and her brother when they were young. She never came back and my wife has had no contact with her in decades.
Jay, how did your wife's father handle it? Did he have contact with his W after she left and, if so, how did he treat her?
And I noticed that Jack's W had issues with their son turning 10. There may have been several factors for my W but she started down this road about the same age as when her mom took her and her siblings from their dad. My Ws dad did not try very hard to see them and her mother is an alcoholic with very little capacity to show love.
Me:56, W:51 D:26,S:24,S:22 Married:18 Bomb 9/27/06 Separated 11/27/06 Divorced 10/6/08 Leaving it up to God