Living With Parents and Emerging Adults’ Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Whether moving back home after a period of economic independence or having never moved out, the share of emerging adults living with parents is increasing. Yet little is known about the associations of coresidence patterns and rationales for coresidence for emerging adult well-being. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study ( n = 891), we analyzed depressive symptoms among emerging adults who (a) never left the parental home, (b) returned to the parental home, and (c) were not currently living with a parent. About one fifth of emerging adults had boomeranged or moved back in with their parents. Among those living with parents, nearly two fifths had boomeranged or returned to their parental home and they reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. Among coresident emerging adults, both intrinsic and utilitarian motivations (i.e., enjoy living with parents and employment problems) partially mediated the association between coresidence and depressive symptoms. Returning to the parental home was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms only among emerging adults experiencing employment problems. These findings are especially relevant because the recession hit emerging adults particularly hard. The ability to distinguish boomerang emerging adults and emerging adults who have never left home provides a more nuanced understanding of parental coresidence during this phase of the life course.