The relation between parental identity and children’s departureamong middle-aged Japanese
Satoko Saiga
Psychology Program(人文社会科学専攻心理学プログラム)
Introduction
Identity is a firm sense of sameness and continuity
in the self and is constructed in each role one plays
in society (Erikson, 1980). Identity development is alifelong process, and facing crises can revise andmature identity (Marcia, 2002). The three-dimension
model has been used to capture the dynamics ofidentity development in various life domains (e.g.,education, occupation, etc.) (Crocetti et al., 2008).
Commitment refers to making a particular identity
choice and self-confidence in that choice. In-depth
exploration refers to actively dealing with, reflecting,and discussing their commitment. Reconsiderationof commitment refers to searching for a possible newcommitment because of the dissatisfaction with theircurrent choice. This model is suitable for capturing
the identity development during adulthood in detailbecause it can assess the identity processes ofmaintenance and reconstruction. Moreover, thisapproach can consistently classify individuals into
five identity statuses (achievement, foreclosure,moratorium, diffusion, and searching moratorium)
based on specific combinations of these dimensions.
Parenthood in particular is one of the mostimportant identity domains in adulthood. Children’sdeparture, referring to children’s leaving theirparental home, has a significant influence on theparental role. The results of previous case studies
showed that the reconstruction of parental identity is
an important factor in investigating the individual
differences in the effect of children’s departure on
psychosocial adaptation (Kroger, 2002; Mitchell &Lovegreen, 2009). However, the suggestions ofthese previous case studies are not sufficient toempirically understanding the relation between theidentity reconstruction and children’s departure.
Purposes and Hypotheses
The purpose of this study is to examine the relation
between parental identity and children’s departureusing cross-sectional data. First, we examined thevalidation of the Japanese version of the parental

identity scale for a wide range of age (Analysis 1).
About factor structure, the three-factor model would
be a better fit than the one- or two-factor model, inline with the results of a previous study (Piotrowski,2018). Based on the previous studies (Crocetti et al.,2008; Piotrowski, 2021), commitment would beassociated with the psychosocial adaptive factors, indepth exploration would be related to both
psychosocial adaptive and maladaptive factors, andreconsideration of commitment would be associatedwith psychosocial maladaptive factors. Based on theprevious identity status study (Piotrowski, 2021),high commitment statuses (achievement andforeclosure) would be characterized by adaptive
features, low commitment statuses (moratorium anddiffusion) would be characterized by maladaptivefeatures, and searching moratorium status would becharacterized by adaptive and maladaptive features.
Second, we examined the relationshipbetween parental identity and children’s departure,and its gender differences (Analysis 2). Because
children’s departure was found to have a negative
impact on the foundation of parental identity(Mitchell & Lovegreen, 2009), parents who do notlive with all their children would have lower scoreson commitment and in-depth exploration, and higherscore on reconsideration of commitment. In theidentity status approach, parents who do not livewith their children would be strongly represented in
low commitment statuses (moratorium anddiffusion), and parents who live with all theirchildren would be strongly represented in highcommitment status (achievement, foreclosure, andsearching moratorium).
Methods
Participants and Procedure
We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire
survey using an online research company.
Participants were 600 middle-aged Japanese parents(50% female, Mage = 44.8, SD = 8.47, range = 30 –59 years).

Figure 1. Z-scores for commitment, in-depth
exploration,
andreconsiderationofcommitment for the four statuses.
21.5
1Z score

Measures
The questionnaire was constituted by parentalidentity (Meca et al., 2020; α = .86 – .91), selfconcept clarity (Tokunaga & Horiuchi, 2012; α= .82), personality traits (Oshio et al., 2012; r = .19– .46), depression (Shima et al., 1985; α = .91),
anxiety (Shimizu & Imae, 1981; α = .91),
satisfaction with life (Kadono, 1994; α = .89),
generativity (Tabuchi et al., 2012; α = .61 – .83),
parental behavior (Kato et al., 2014; α = .92), anddemographic variables (gender, age, region, income,work status, and status of children’s departure).
Results and Discussion
Analysis 1: Development of the Parental Identity
Scale
As a result of confirmatory factor analyses, the threefactor model showed better model fit than the onefactor (Δχ2 = 1718.50, Δdf = 3, p < .001) and twofactor model (Δχ2 = 1302.44, Δdf = 2, p < .001).
Furthermore, the three-factor model fits well acrossgender and age groups. Commitment was positively
related to adaptive personality traits (r = .09 – .24),
satisfaction with life (r = .37), generativity (r = .20– .35) and supportive parenting (r = .41), andnegatively related to psychosocial problems (r = -.22,-.30). In-depth exploration was positively related toconscientiousness (r = .09), satisfaction with life (r= .29), generativity (r = .17 – .31) and supportiveparenting (r = .40), and negatively related to selfconcept clarity (r = -.21). Reconsideration ofcommitment was positively related to agreeableness(r = .22), neuroticism (r = .18) and psychosocialproblems (r = .42, .43), and negatively related toself-concept clarity (r = -.39), satisfaction with life(r = -.14), generativity (r = -.10 – -.17) andsupportive parenting (r = -.28).
Using a latent profile analysis, we found thatthe four-profile model was the best (Figure 1). The
result of a multivariate analysis of variance(MANOVA) showed that a significant main effect ofidentity status emerged (Wilks’ λ = .09; F (60,1713.3) = 35.67, p < .001, η2 = .55). Post hoc
analyses showed that individuals in the highcommitment clusters had higher scores on
satisfaction with life, generativity, and supportiveparenting than those in the low-commitment statuses.
Furthermore, those in the searching moratorium
scored the highest on depression and anxiety.

Commitment
In-depth exploration
Reconsideration of commitment

0.50-0.5-1-1.5-2Achievement(n = 255)

Moratorium(n = 245)

Searchingmoratorium(n = 37)

Diffusion(n = 63)

Our results showed meaningful relations
between parental identity and each factor, suggestingthat the three-factor model is generally valid. The
age range of participants in this study was wider thanprevious studies and thus, our results expanded theknowledge of validation of the parental identity scale.
Analysis 2: The Relation Between Parental
Identity and Children’s Departure
The results of MANOVA showed the significant
main effect of experience of children’s departure(Wilks’ λ = .97; F (1, 580) = 6.70, p < .001, η2 = .03)
and interaction effect between gender and status ofchildren’s departure (Wilks’ λ = .98; F (1, 580) =3.40, p = .02, η2 = .02). Fathers who lived with someof their children displayed higher commitment andin-depth exploration. Results of chi-square testdemonstrated that parents who did not live with theirchildren were overrepresented in diffusion (Adjusted
Standardized Residual; ASR = 3.01), while parents
who lived with all their children were less likely toshow the diffusion cluster (ASR = -2.72).
These findings may reflect the fact that thefather’s parental identity is more unstable andimmature than mother’s one (Fadjukoff et al., 2016).
Therefore, there might be strong relations between
father’s parental identity and children’s departure.
Conclusion
Our findings contribute to understanding thedevelopment and revision of parental identity. In thefuture research, we should focus on the genderdifferences of the effect of children’s departure on
parental identity for the practical suggestions.
Main Reference
Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle.
Norton.
（主任指導教員：杉村 和美
副指導教員 ：梅村 比丘・渡部 倫子）