Profiles of Emotional Separation and Parental Trust from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Age Differences and Associations with Identity and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Youth become psychologically independent by emotionally separating from their parents and simultaneously developing a sense of trust in them. While these relational components have been addressed separately, studies focusing on the change in dynamics of these components are lacking. This study examined profiles of parent–youth relationship quality based on emotional separation and parental trust, age differences in the prevalence of these profiles, and age differences in the associations between the profiles, identity, and life satisfaction. Participants included 14,428 youth living in Japan from five age groups (44.8% girls/women; Mage = 20.6 years; range = 12–25 years). Six profiles were identified: healthy–independent, unhealthy–independent, balanced, moderate/ambivalent, connected, and distant. The connected profile was predominant among early adolescents, while the healthy–independent profile was predominant among late adolescents and early and middle emerging adults. Among all age groups, identity synthesis was the highest in the healthy–independent profile, and life satisfaction was the highest and identity confusion was the lowest in the healthy–independent and connected profiles. These findings indicate that young people navigate the process of becoming independent from their parents by balancing emotional separation and parental trust, and this balance relates to identity development and life satisfaction.