Editorial Board:
Editor:
George H. Conklin,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Robert Wortham,
 Associate Editor,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Board:
Rebecca Adams,
 UNC-Greensboro

Bob Davis,
 North Carolina
 Agricultural and
 Technical State
 University

Catherine Harris,
 Wake Forest
 University

Ella Keller,
 Fayetteville
 State University

Ken Land,
 Duke University

Miles Simpson,
 North Carolina
 Central University

William Smith,
 N.C. State University

Editorial Assistants

John W.M. Russell,
 Technical
 Consultant

® 

Volume 9, Number 2

Fall/Winter 2011

A Path Analysis of the Social and Psychological Factors Influencing the Psychological Well Being of Empty Nest Mothers in Sari City, Iran

by

M. T. Iman

and

S.F.Aghamiri

Shiraz University

Introduction

    Until 1930s it was common for adult children to remain at home for both financial and work-related reasons.  The onset of Word War II brought significant changes in the work force and the structuring of the American family. Children were more mobile upon reaching adulthood and increasingly opted for early marriage and independence from the home (Raup and Mers 1989).  This course of events was a prologue to a phenomenon called the empty nest.  Although first identified in the Western world, the empty nest stage is now increasingly common in non-Western nations as life expectancies increase, customs change and fertility declines.

    The empty nest stage of the household been variously defined but generally taken to refer to the post-parenthood phase (Barber 1989). It is defined as the phase of life when the children are grown but no longer live at home. Although both men and women emotionally experience this transition, it has been considered uniquely stressful for women since it entails the loss of the major components of the mother role, a role which has traditionally been a central focus of many women's lives and identities (Harkins 1978). As the empty nest emerges, family cohesion fades, at least in theory.  In this situation, new psychological problems may come forth because emotional relationships are changed.  Dependence of children on parents and parents on children is decreased. 

    According to Ryff (1993), psychological well-being makes reference to the essential features of positive evaluations of one's self and one's life, a sense of continued growth and development as a person and the belief that life as purposeful and meaningful.  Also well-being includes the possession of quality relations with others and the capacity to effectively manage one's life in the surrounding word, including a sense of self determination (Ryff 1993).  The empty nest stage of life represents an important change. How individuals react to the changes and problems of life is one of the factors that directly affect a person's health (Lotf 1999: 248). So, safeguarding mother's psychological well-being after separation of children is essential not only for mothers but for family integrity.

    This research was done to seek answers to the following general questions:

• What is mental state (well-being) of mothers living in an empty nest?  Has it changed from the pre-empty nest state?
• What is relationship between psychological factors and the well-being of mothers who are living in an  empty nest?
• What are the cultural factors which influence the well-being of mothers living in an empty nest?

   In the popular, online discussion of the empty nest stage of household formation, the empty nest is referred to as the summer of life (see www.emptynestmoms.com).  To be able to get the this stage, the mother needs efficient mental health and psychological well-being processes so she does not experience the presumed negative results of the new conditions. Mental well-being is based on life satisfaction and happiness, which is an important part of mental health. Diener (1984), a scholar who researches mental well-being, believes that  mental well-being consists of two dimensions: judgments about life satisfaction and affective balance or the  extent to which the level of positive affect outweighs the level of negative affect in someone's life.  Life satisfaction is based on an individual's subjective cognitive appraisals.  Happiness is an affectively-oriented evaluation of well-being that entails a "preponderance of positive affect over negative affect" (Diener 1984: 543).

    In seasons of change theory, the aim is to allow the mother to self-flourish. In psychological well-being theory, the mother is to find contentment to life. Self-flourishing leads to life satisfaction and happiness. Individual identity, an identity which separates one from others and reinforces independence, is at the helm of the personality features. When the identity of a woman is concentrated on her maternal role, and this role passes, her identity certainly may be marred.

    O'Connell (1976) discusses the identity of woman. O'Connell proposes two kinds of identity for women. A personal sense of identity occurs where she is aware of her own talents, capabilities and needs and has the capacity to see herself as a separate entity, to function autonomously, and has a reflected identity which emphasizes the significant others in her life. Here, the woman's self-esteem and feelings of self-worth are derived from being associated with significant others. O'Connell's research found that the sense of the personal identity becomes a crucial issue after her role of wife and mother has been fulfilled (O'Connell 1976: 675). Identity dependency on others causes negative effects on self determination. 

    Notman (1980) suggests that separation and autonomy are essentially masculine goals, and women may be best understood in terms of relatedness. She is careful to distinguish relatedness from dependency. Dependency is characterized by "the need fulfilling character of relationships with no choice of separateness." Relatedness assumes that of one's life is closely associated with fulfillment via others.  Notman (1986) proposes that for women, a core of primary relatedness may be an autonomous ego function. Women, as they mature into the adult "self-in-relation," derive an increased sense of self esteem from contributing to the development of others. Prior developmental models have stressed the separated self as a precondition for being concerned with others. Notman further states that a woman's optimal functioning emerges in part from interactions. A woman's relational ties are a major component of her self esteem (Notman 1986: 245). Dependence of mothers on others can cause problems such as depression and seclusion.

    Over half of the parents in Deutscher's (1984) study evaluated their post parental life as preferable to their parental life. Others said that their married life remained about the same, while only 6 percent considered their post parental relationship worse than it was before the children left. An implied extension of this correlation between marital satisfaction and the launching of adolescent children is that higher marital satisfaction may aid in a more successful and positive transition to the post parental period.

    Lowenthal and Chiriboga (1972), studying 54 men and women whose youngest child was about to leave home (pre-empty nest stage), found that this time was anticipated with great relief and did not feel threatening, nor was it viewed as a crisis.

    Black and Hill's (1984) analysis from questionnaires and interviews found that while women involved in the launching of the last child seemed generally well-adjusted and satisfied with themselves and their lives, there were perceptible differences in levels of adjustment and coping ability to this transitional phase during the life cycle. They found that a key determinant for women's adjustment to the post parental period to be the degree of involvement  in the maternal role. 

    Wheaton (1990) has also suggested the role context within which a major life and role transition event occurs, particularly the consideration of pre-existing chronic stress in the social role may be an important determinant as to whether or not a transition is potentially stressful. He hypothesized that life transition may not be viewed as problematic and may even be perceived as beneficial when preceded by chronic role stress. With regard to the empty nest period, an analysis of the effect of a child moving out of house in relation to previous problems with the parental role indicates that parents who enjoyed their children suffer a moderate increase in symptoms when a child moves out. In contrast, parents who had experienced problems with the parental role prior to the launching of the adolescent did not evidence distress.  The results suggest that factors in the role history prior to the life transition have a major impact on its stressfulness. Wheaton's research emphasizes the importance in understanding and accounting for the social environment prior to the occurrence of the transition (Wheaton 1990). 

    White and Edwards (1990) conducted a study to determine the effect of children leaving home on "parental well-being." Interviews were conducted, five years apart, during and after this transition. Findings show that the empty nest was associated with significant improvement of marital happiness for all parents. Life satisfaction is significantly improved based on frequent contact with grown children.

  Dennerstein, Dudley and Guthrie's (2002) research on empty nest found that in the first year after the last child departed there was an improvement in women's positive mood and total well-being and a reduction in negative mood and the number of daily hassles. This improvement in mood was confined to those women who at baseline were not worried about children leaving home. In the first year after children return home there was a trend towards reduced frequency of sexual activities but no mood changes.

    Lai (2002) utilized a qualitative research design to explore the empty nest experience among a small group of women.  The transcripts were analyzed following the procedures and techniques of grounded theory. Findings suggest that women undergoing the empty nest experience encountered complicated emotions, in which the following themes were elicited: feeling sad, feeling relived, wondering about oneself, loving children, dealing with missing someone, dealing with transition, coping with anxieties and denial, seeking support, and feeling positive. In general, the empty nest gave the subjects mixed feelings.

    The theoretical framework of the current research is based on Ryff's  (1989, 1993) well-being scores. Ryff synthesized ideas from the personality theories of Malsow, Jung, Rogers, Allport, Erikson, Buhler, Neurgarten, and Jahoda. She constructed a measure of well-being around six subscales: Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life, Personal Growth, and Self-Acceptance (Christopher 1999).

    Ryff (1989, 1999) equates autonomy with attributes such as self-determination, independence, internal locus of control, individuation, and internal regulation of behavior. Underlying these attributes is the belief that one's thoughts and actions are one's own and should not be determined by agencies or causes outside one's control. Environmental mastery is thus defined as the ability to choose or create environments suitable to his or her psychic conditions. 

    Positive relations with others are defined as warm, trusting interpersonal relations and strong feelings of empathy and affection. Ryff (1989, 1999) suggested that having a clear comprehension of life's purpose, a sense of directedness, and intentionality are important parts of the feeling that there is purpose and meaning to life.

    Personal growth is defined as the continuing ability to develop one's potential, to grow and expand as a person. Ryff (1989) maintained that holding positive attitudes toward oneself emerges as a central characteristic of positive psychological functioning . A diagram of this research based on six scales of Ryff's theory which is shown in Figure 1.

1. Marital satisfaction is related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest.
2. Self-confidence is related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest.
3. Having intimate relations with other family members is related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest.
4. Social participation is related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest.
5. Quality relationships with others is related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest.
6. Extracurricular activities with others is related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest.
7. Religious beliefs are related to the psychological well-being of mothers in the empty nest. 

    This study  is based on quantitative approaches using questionnaires. Questions about psychological well-being were extracted from Ryff's (1989, 1993) psychological well-being questionnaire. Other scales are based on existing questionnaires such as self-esteem questionnaires, and some questions were new for this study. Validity of the instrument was assessed through face validity. Each respondent answered questions based on Likert scales from 1 to 5.

    Reliability of the scales was evaluated based on Cronbach's alpha coefficients: social participation=0.72;  quality relationships with others=0.77; extracurricular activities=0.69;  religious beliefs=0.82; marital satisfaction=0.87; self confidence=0.85; having intimate relationships with other family members=0.77;  dependence on the mother=0.68 and psychological well-being=0.68.

    Since the exact number of mothers whose child or children had left home due to military service, marriage, education, or employment was not available, whole families in Sari City were considered. According to census conducted in 2006, 400,000 families were living in Sari. Sample size was calculated by using the Cochrane formula. Sample size for this population at the 95 percent confidence level was 348 families.

    Sari City is divided into two regions. Region 1 is subdivided into 12 administrative areas, while Region 2 is subdivided into 11 areas. In each area the questionnaires were distributed using systematic random sampling.  Since the true number of empty-nest mothers and their distribution in the city was unknown, researchers selected only those families who were in fact living in empty nest households.  241 questionnaires were completed in the city. After collecting the data, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for analysis the data. The results are presented here in two parts: descriptive and inferential. In the inferential part, Pearson correlations and  multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses and construct the structural model (path analysis).

    Based on the descriptive findings of the study, the average maternal age was 48 years, 21 percent of the women were employed,  22 percent were illiterate, 25 percent had intermediate and high school degrees, 27.5 percent had a diploma, 16 percent had associate degree, 7.5 percent had an undergraduate education and 1.2 percent had M.S. (or M.A.) and Ph.D. degrees. 

    The relationship between quality of relationships with others and psychological well-being was assessed using correlations (see Table 1). Maternal psychological well-being increases if the quality of relationships with others increases. Comparing the average score of quality of relationships with others of empty nest mothers before and after children leaving home indicates that the difference is significant. The quality of relationships with others before is higher than after (see Table 2). The result of the hypothesis is consistent with Ryff's (1989, 1993) assumption about the correlation between positive relations with others and psychological well-being.

    The second hypothesis addresses the relationship between extracurricular activities and psychological well-being of the empty nest's mothers. According to the Pearson coefficient (r= 0.237), extracurricular activities of mothers and maternal psychological well-being is correlated and statistically significant (see Table 1). By comparing the average scores of this variable, before and after separation of children from home, it becomes clear that extracurricular activities of the mothers after leaving their children from home has dropped (see Table 3). Results from this hypothesis are consistent with Diener's (1984) comments. When people stick to their favorite activities, they experience high levels of well-being. 

    The third hypothesis is tested for relation between religious beliefs of empty the nest's mothers and their  psychological well-being. The correlation indicates that religious beliefs have positive and significant relationship with psychological well-being (see Table 1).

    Table 1 also shows the result of the fourth hypothesis which is the about the relationship between social participation and psychological well-being of empty nest mothers. This correlation (r = .050) is not statistically significant.  Therefore this hypothesis is neither coordinated with Ryff's (1989, 1993) view that says positive relations with others leads to rising mental well-being, nor with Diener's (1984) view that those who have higher social participation in society are output-oriented that this increases a person's feeling of happiness.

     The fifth hypothesis concerns the association between marital satisfaction and the psychological well-being of the mothers. This correlation is positive and significant. As marital satisfaction increases,  the psychological well-being of mothers also increases (see Table 1). Table 4 indicates that marital satisfaction also increases after the children leave the household.  

    Self confidence is necessary for well-being and is one of the health factors.  Table 1 shows this significant relationship. As self confidence increases, psychological well-being of mothers also increases. More relationships between the mother and other members of family is associated with higher levels of psychological well-being.  The data in Table 1 confirm this hypothesis. 

    The last hypothesis is about the relation between dependence of mothers on their children and the mother's psychological well-being.  The correlation of r=0.308 (see Table 1) shows that the dependence of mothers on their children is significantly related to the mother's psychological well-being.

    The structural model was evaluated using Path Analysis.  Regression equations were used to analyze the impact of the independent variables on the psychological well-being.

   Table 5 shows the regression analysis. In the first step, quality relationship with others was entered in the equation and revealed a positive and significant relationship (beta=0.292) explaining 10.5 percent of the variation of the psychological well being. In the second step, mother's dependence to the child was entered and explained 8.2 percent of the variation.  Self confidence and marital satisfaction was entered in the third and fourth steps, with positive and significant relationships with psychological well being. The variables all together predict 26.2 percent of the variation of the psychological well-being.

    Table 6 indicates direct, indirect and total effects independent variables on the dependent variable. Path coefficients of these effects show that mother's dependence on the child has highest direct effect and relationship with other the highest indirect effects on psychological well-being. Highest total effect is the mother's dependence to the child. 

    The research  reported here investigated the psychological well-being of mothers empty nest households. Table 4 shows that the mother's perceived marital satisfaction increased after the children left home.  In short, even though the relationship with children declined after the children left home, the wife thought that her marriage improved, not declined, when the empty nest stage of life arrived, the "summer" of the marriage.

    The quality of relationships with others was the first independent variable evaluated.  A significant correlation exists between the quality of relationship with others and psychological well-being. Research by scholars indicates that having a partnership activity with someone else whom we know increases well-being (Carr 2004). This hypothesis also agrees with the mental well-being propositions of Ryff (1989, 1993), who claims that having positive relationships with others causes warm, satisfying and trustable relationship.

    Extracurricular activity is the second independent variable addressed in this study. Findings indicate a significant between extracurricular activity and the psychological well-being of the mothers who live in an empty nest. Mothers who have more extracurricular activities experience more psychological well-being. 

    We assumed that the marital satisfaction of the mothers correlates with their psychological well-being. The study results confirm this relationship. That is, if marital satisfaction increases, psychological well-being would also increase. This hypothesis coordinates with Diener's (1984) mental well-being theory.

   Self confidence impacts psychological well-being (Ryff 1898, 1993). This hypothesis is confirmed. It seems that the relationship between self confidence and psychological well-being is associated with the fact that a person with high self-esteem is more independent and less damaged after children leave home. 

    When the mother's ties with other family members are close, she feels more comfortable after children leave the household. This hypothesis is based on Argel's (quoted in Carr 2004 ) idea that intimate relations with a small number of people and intimate supportive relationship with family members leads to stronger mental well-being. 

    The last hypothesis examined the association between the dependence on child and psychological well-being of mothers. The study results confirm this hypothesis and indicates that more dependence on children is correlated with the higher psychological well-being of mothers. 

   The structural model indicates the direct, indirect and total effects of independent variables on the dependent variable. The path coefficients of these effects show that mother's dependence on the child has the highest direct and quality relationship with others and the highest indirect effects on psychological well-being. The highest total effect relates to mother's dependence to the child.   Based on those independent variables that have direct relations with psychological well being, 26 percent of variation is explained. 

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