Transitioning to the Empty Nest Period: Parents' Experiences and Strategies

The empty nest period is a period in which cognitive, sensory, and motor habits acquired during the children's stay at home end when they leave. The purpose of this research is to examine in depth the experiences and strategies of individuals in … who have entered the empty nest period. The research was conducted within a phenomenological design. The study group consisted of 13 parents residing in … who were in the empty nest period when their children left home for reasons such as education, work, and marriage. Semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was used as the data collection tool. The audio recordings obtained from the interviews were transcribed and coded using content analysis to create themes. The content analysis identified seven subthemes: personal life changes, changes in daily life, feelings after separation, changes in family relationships, relationships with spouse during the empty nest period, factors facilitating adaptation, and recommendations for the empty nest period. The research findings revealed both feelings of loss and increased life satisfaction that came with new opportunities in empty nest parents. Furthermore, within the context of factors facilitating adaptation to the process, social support and active engagement have been found to facilitate adaptation. Based on these results, it is recommended that guidance sessions be held for parents in the empty nest period, sociocultural hobby groups involving empty nest parents be established, and experimental programs be used to test the effectiveness of interventions targeting the negative emotions and experiences that arise during the empty nest period.