It turns out that parental estrangement from their adult children is a current phenomenon.
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Marriage and the Empty Nest
Our research on empty nest experience found that this developmental stage can be both happy and sad. In the same way, the research found conflicting results on the impact of an empty nest on marriages. In general, the findings were positive! That is good news. For instance, back in 2002, researcher Karen Fingerman of Purdue…
Read MoreChristmas Season and an Empty Nest
In our research on the empty nest experience we found that life satisfaction was much lower on average when single parents launched their kids to college. This group fared worse emotionally than did married couples. This makes sense as it is much harder for a single parent to see their last child go. This fact…
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A Tough Year and a Question
In our research on parents’ empty nest experiences we found a very interesting article titled Of Roots and Wings: Letting Go of the College-Child. It was published in 2004 by professors at prestigious Boston College. Two quotes really stood out from this article. The first one: “Thus there is considerable symbolic weightiness to the leaving…
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Empty Nest Experience 