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It's a parenting Catch-22. Young adults who leave the nest too soon after university or who stay home too long are at a greater risk of depression than their peers, according to new research out of the University of Alberta.
In psychological circles, the 20s are known as a risky time, with higher rates of depression than are typical in middle age.
"There are vulnerabilities and opportunities," says Nancy Galambos, a psychology professor and co-author of the study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. "Leaving home, getting a job, becoming a parent - they're all possible turning points in people's lives."
Dr. Galambos and her colleagues applied new software models to surveys collected from 577 university graduates ages 20 to 29 who were tracked for seven years from 1985 to 1992 and asked to report their depressive and angry symptoms. They found that younger respondents living on their own reported higher levels of depression than those who lived at home with their parents.
The reverse was true for older individuals: They reported more depressive symptoms if they had not yet left home. And while there were minimal gender differences, women reported more anger immediately after graduation than did their male counterparts.
Dr. Galambos says that even though there are significant spikes in the beginning and toward the end of the period, over all the good news is that both anger and depression declined.
But knowing a kid's optimum exit date remains a mystery.
There's no perfect age to move out, Dr. Galambos says.
"That's the million-dollar question," she says. "It's so important to take into account the individual and their strengths and weaknesses when making these decisions. Don't push a kid out too soon. But don't keep him or her there too long."
While unemployment and marriage are known to increase the risk of depression, these conditions were factored out of the study.
Studying the role that major life transitions play in mental health is a growth industry for researchers such as Dr. Galambos. Ideally, studies such as hers can help parents manage their children's expectations by mapping out a new understanding of how young adults mature emotionally.
While the findings are food for thought for families facing the trend of "boomerang" kids rebounding home after university, increased depression should not necessarily be interpreted as inflicting long-term damage.
"There is the view that [lingering at home] is the new norm and it's taking longer for people to reach the adulthood, and what's the harm in it? Maybe they're figuring out where they want to be and they're going to be happier in middle age because of it.
"What is the goal of adulthood? To become more adaptive," she says. "We haven't shown this generation is off-track."
The only place the reported depression and anger did not decline during the study period was when the graduates became parents. Anger in particular rose among women after they had children.
Surprisingly, the grandparents' level of education played a role. Anger decreased faster among those with highly educated parents as opposed to less educated parents. Dr. Galambos suspects this could have something to do with having more resources to help deal with the transition.
That said, parenthood seemed initially more difficult for individuals from more educated families.
"Perhaps parenthood is a bigger surprise for people from more advantaged backgrounds," Dr. Galambos writes.
