How Leaving Home Influences Relationships with Parents

1. How Leaving Home Influences Relationships with Parents By Travis,Terry&Leah

2. Introduction • Adolescents that were autonomous and self-reliant had close relationships with parents. (Study done by Allen, Hauser, Bell,O’Connor) • Autonomous-relatedness was originally described by Bowlby. • There was an absence of longitudinal studies done concerning parent-child relationships.

3. Reasons for the Study • Outline a developmental model of parent-child relationships based on the constructs of autonomy and relatedness. • Link the dynamics of autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-parent interactions to the process of leaving home.

4. Hypothesis • There is a positive relationship between satisfaction with parents and young adult adjustment. • Adolescents who have an imbalance in autonomy-relatedness have more difficulty separating with parents during adulthood. • Adolescents who have experienced divorce with father who left home, would report less contact and satisfaction with parents in young adulthood.

5. Participants • The sample consisted of 146 adolescents starting at age 14 & their families. • Half were drawn from 9th grade students • Half were drawn from psychiatric hospitals • Psychiatric patients were diagnosed with mood or conduct disorders

6. Data Collection • Data were collected at ages 14, 16 & 25. • At ages 14 & 16 participants were given three family moral dilemmas to be solved. • The tests were most extensive at age 25 including questionnaires on personality and adjustment. Relationship satisfaction and amount of contact were also gauged. • A autonomy relatedness coding system that measured satisfaction, and psychological adjustment was used to analyze the data.

7. Results • Psychiatric hospitalization did not affect frequency or quality of contact with parents but lower levels of autonomy-relatedness with parents was shown. • Satisfaction with parent relationships was positively related to frequency of contact.

8. Frequency of contact with parents showed no significant link with young adult adjustment. • Adolescents autonomous-relatedness was negatively correlated with frequency of contact in young adulthood. • Satisfaction at age 25 with parents was unrelated to autonomous-relatedness • The amount of contact with parents that were divorced had an effect of quality of relationship.

9. The demographics were very limited. Mostly white middle class families were studied, cultural implications could affect the findings. Could have tested at different key age levels, not just 25. Possibly earlier in the twenties, closer to the time when many adolescents leave the home. Weaknesses of the Study

10. Strengths of the Study • The authors studied both contact and satisfaction • Longitudinal perspective (10+ yrs.) connects adolescent home life directly to early adult life with many different people.

11. Class Discussion • In many cultures, young people typically live at home until marriage. To what extent do you think the findings here would apply to young people in such cultures?

12. Class Discussion • Why do you think that the frequency of contact with parents showed no significant link with young adult adjustment?

13. Thanks and Goodbye