TRANSITION TO THE EMPTY NEST: CHANGES IN PARENTAL OPTIMISM AND PARENTAL FATALISM (LAUNCHING, 'LETTING GO', MID-LIFE PARENTING)

Based on family developmental theory, this study addressed two questions: (1) Are middle-aged parent satisfied with their parental role at this stage in the family life cycle?, and (2) Are middle-aged parent attending to the developmental task of "letting go"? The data were drawn from a large two-wave panel study of a representative sample of Chicago area respondents interviewed in 1972 and 1976. A subsample of 380 parents whose youngest children were between the ages of 10 and 30 in 1972 was used. Parental optimism was assessed by a scale constructed from estimates of relative difficulty in the experience of parenting. A scale of parental fatalism was used to examine whether parents believed there was little they could do to change their children's behavior, and, therefore, must accept them as they are.;This research found that the parents in this sample were optimistic if their youngest children were older, if they had already launched their children, or if they felt masterful as persons. These parents became more optimistic over time if they had not launched their children by Time One and their children were older.;Secondly, this study demonstrated that the parents in this sample were more likely to "let go"--i.e., be more fatalistic--if their youngest children were older or if they felt fatalistic about their lives in general. Parents were likely to be come more prone to "let go" over time if their youngest children were older or if all their children had been launched by 1972, regardless of whether they felt masterful as persons.;Multiple regression was employed in order to separate the effects predicting initial levels of optimism and fatalism as well as predicting changes in these outcomes over time. The independent variables were: (1) age of youngest child in the family, (2) whether all children were launched by Time One, and (3) the parent's own sense of personal mastery. Effects due to such confounding variables as sex, race, marital status, family size, education, income level, and whether the parent made the transition to the empty nest during the four years of the study were controlled by using multiple regression.