The costs and benefits of an empty nest: A longitudinal study of couples' relationship functioning when children leave the home

在抚养孩子的过程中，夫妻往往把更多的时间和精力放在养育孩子上，而花在培养彼此关系上的时间更少。由于这个原因，孩子们最终离开家庭，被称为“空巢过渡”，这对夫妇来说可能很困难，因为他们要学会如何从父母照顾者的角色退后一步，以“仅仅”关系伙伴的身份适应日常生活。事实上，最近过渡到空巢的夫妇的离婚率可能比以往任何时候都高。此外，即使是那些在孩子离开家后仍然在一起的夫妇，也经常回忆起这一转变是一段充满挑战的时期，使他们彼此之间的情感联系变得紧张。因为夫妻在中年时期的关系质量会对他们以后的幸福、健康和幸福产生持久的影响，所以有必要更好地了解夫妻在这一规范转变期间维持牢固健康关系的能力。本项目通过纵向、多方法的研究，调查夫妇的关系评估和日常互动如何以及为什么在空巢过渡期间发生变化，研究对象是那些最后一个或唯一一个孩子离开家的夫妇（即，完成向空巢过渡的夫妇）和那些第一个孩子离开家的夫妇（即，刚刚开始启动阶段的夫妇）。在孩子离开家之前和之后，将通过问卷调查和日常调查对夫妇进行评估，在三年的时间里总共收集了五波数据。基于关系过渡是关系增长或衰退的关键时期这一观点，该项目为在空巢过渡期间哪些夫妇可能会茁壮成长，哪些夫妇可能会挣扎提供了新的视角。有人提出，虽然过渡到空巢应该为夫妻提供更多的机会参与共同的活动，重新点燃他们的关系，但这一时期也可能以不确定感和矛盾心理的突然增加为特征，这可能会阻碍积极的互动，增加伴侣之间的日常冲突。夫妻经历这种转变的收益和成本的程度可能取决于几个个人、关系和背景因素，例如父母在这段时间经历的角色丧失或身份破坏，亲子关系的性质，家庭中持有的文化价值观，以及夫妻当时面临的压力生活环境（例如，经济困难，照顾年迈的父母）。通过确定促进更成功而不是紧张过渡的条件，这项工作不仅加深了对为什么过渡时期对夫妇来说可能具有挑战性的理解，而且还可以揭示随着年龄的增长如何提高成年人的生活质量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

When raising their children, couples often focus more time and energy on parenting and less time nurturing their relationship with each other. For this reason, the eventual departure of children from the family home, known as the transition into an empty nest, can be difficult for couples as they learn how to step back from roles as parental caregivers and adapt to daily life as "just" relationship partners. Indeed, the divorce rate among couples who have recently transitioned into an empty nest may be higher today than ever. Moreover, even couples who remain together after their children's departure from the home frequently recall this transition as a challenging time that strained their emotional connection with one another. Because couples' relationship quality during mid-life can have lasting effects on their happiness, health, and well-being in later life, a better understanding of couples' ability to maintain a strong and healthy relationship during this normative transition is needed.This project investigates how and why couples’ relationship appraisals and day-to-day interactions change across the empty nest transition period through a longitudinal, multi-method study examining couples whose last or only child is departing the home (i.e., couples completing their transition into an empty nest) and couples whose first child is departing the home (i.e., couples just beginning the launching phase). Couples will be assessed via questionnaires and daily surveys administered both before and after their children leave the family home, for a total of five waves of data collection over a three-year period. Building on the idea that relational transitions are pivotal periods that can instigate either relationship growth or decay, this project offers new perspectives on which couples may thrive and which couples may struggle during the empty nest transition. It is proposed that although the transition into an empty nest should provide couples with more opportunities to engage in shared activities and rekindle their relationship, this period may also be characterized by sudden increases in feelings of uncertainty and ambivalence that can hinder positive interactions and increase daily conflict between partners. The extent to which couples experience the benefits versus the costs of this transition may depend on several individual, relational, and contextual factors, such as parents' experience of role loss or identity disruption during this time, the nature of the parent-child relationship, the cultural values held within the family, and the stressful life circumstances (e.g., financial hardships, caring for elderly parents) couples are facing at the time. By identifying the conditions that foster a more successful rather than strained transition, this work not only enhances understanding of why transitional periods may be challenging for couples, but also can shed light on improving adults' quality of life as they grow older.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.