Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

When The Children Are Gone: Changes In Mental Health And Marital Relations During The Transition To Postparenthood, Kenneth Holland Cannon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A longitudinal research design was used to determine if parents' personal well-being or marital relations changed after the launching of the youngest child and what variales might affect these potential changes.

Eighty-nine parents whose youngest child was a senior at Logan High School or Sky View High School responded to mail-out questionnaires, assessing parents general well-being, marital relations, marital companionship, personal stress, quality of parenting experiences and degree of parent-child conflict. Approximately one year later, a second questionnaire was sent and twenty-three of the parents who responded had launched their youngest child.

One of the most striking aspects of the …