Does leaving home too early cause problems for adolescents?
• Researchers in Sweden conducted a longitudinal study of children and youth, finding that 50% of females left home after age 18, while 50% of males left home after age 21. • Correlational analyses indicated that, for females, leaving home early was associated with earlier marriage, having more children, and lower levels of education. • However, females who left home early were different as children than females who left home later. • Those who left early had more strained family relations, poorer adjustment, lower educational aspirations, more impulsivity, aggression, school problems, and drug and alcohol use, earlier sexual activity and more sexual partners. • The Transition into Adulthood in Contemporary Society • Identity development may be compromised by the discontinuous nature of the transition to adulthood our youth experience. • Erik Erikson believed that self-concept, or identity, of youth is created by growing self-awareness and feedback from society. • Adolescent specialist
