Skip to main content
Log in

Late adolescents' conceptualizations of home-leaving

  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Separation from the family, a key developmental task, has received scant attention from developmentalists. In this study, college students' dissimilarity ratings and ratings on 22 bipolar adjective scales were obtained for a set of 20 definitions of home-leaving. Results of a cluster analysis revealed that conceptualizations of the definitions are organized in terms of eight clusters. Ratings on the 22 adjective scales provided an empirical means for interpreting the typological structure of the home-leaving definitions. Convergence the results of this inductive study of home-leaving and elements of ego development theory was noted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainsworth, H. D. S., and Wittig, B. A. (1969). Attachment and exploratory behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. In Foss, B. M. (ed.),Determinants of Infant Behavior, Vol. IV, Methuen, London, pp. 111–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonucci, T. (1976). Attachment: A life-span concept.Hum. Dev. 19: 135–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bekoff, M. (1977). Mammalian dispersal and the ontogeny of individual behavioral phenotypes.Am. Naturalist 111: 715–732.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, S. M. (1970). The development of the concept of object as related to infant-mother attachment.Child Dev. 41: 291–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blos, P. (1967). The second individuation process of adolescence.Psychoanal. Stud. Child 72: 162–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1969).Attachment and Loss, Vol. 1:Attachment, Basic Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coelho, G., Solomon, F., Wolff, C., Steinberg, A., and Hamburg, D. (1969). Predicting coping behavior in college.J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 14: 386–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimock, H. S. (1937).Rediscovering the Adolescent: A Study of Personality Development in Adolescent Boys, Association Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douvan, E., and Adelson, J. (1966).The Adolescent Experience, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elson, N. (1964). The reactive impact of adolescent and family upon each other in separation.J. Am. Acad. Child Psychol. 3: 669–708.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hotch, D. (1979). Separating from the family: A study of perceptions of home-leaving in late adolescence. Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University.

  • Johnson, S. (1967). Hierarchical clustering schemes.Psychometrika 38: 241–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josselson, R. (1980). Ego development in adolescence. In Adelson, J. (ed.),Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kestenbaum, C. J. (1978). Some practical considerations in the assessment and treatment of adolescent girls with separation problems.J. Am. Acad. Psychoanal. 6: 353–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, R. M., and Ryff, C. D. (1978). Implementation of the life-span view of human development: The sample case of attachment. In Baltes, P. B. (ed.),Life-Span Development and Behavior, Vol. 1, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcia, J. (1966). Development and validation of ego identity status.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 3: 551–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcia, J. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In Adelson, J. (ed.),Handbook of Adolescent Psychology, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphey, E., Silber, E., Coelho, G., Hamburg, D., and Greenburg, I. (1963). Development of autonomy and parent-child interaction in late adolescence.Am. J. Orthopsychiat. 33: 643–652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, A. (1969). Adolescent ego autonomy and the family. In Caplan, G., and Lebovici, S. (eds.),Adolescence: Psychosocial Perspectives, Basic Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, A. (1946). Emancipation of college students.J. Genet. Psychol. 68: 171–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stierlin, H., Levi, L. D., and Savard, R. J. (1971). Parental perceptions of separating children.Fam. Proc. 10: 411–427.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, K., and Sullivan, A. (1980). Adolescent-parent separation.Dev. Psychol. 16: 93–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Troll, L. E., and Smith, J. (1976). Attachment through the life-span: Some questions about dyadic bonds among adults.Hum. Dev. 19: 156–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, A. S., and Waterman, C. K. (1971). A longitudinal study of changes in ego identity status during the freshman year at college.Dev. Psychol. 5: 167–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, B., Russell, D., and Lerman, D. (1979). The cognition-emotion process in achievement-related contexts.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 37: 1211–1220.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1979. Major research interests are moral development, parent-adolescent separation, and attribution theory.

Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1979. Major research interests are parent-adolescent separation, attitudes/values in adolescence, and evaluation research.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moore, D., Hotch, D.F. Late adolescents' conceptualizations of home-leaving. J Youth Adolescence 10, 1–10 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02088418

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02088418

Keywords

Navigation