Researchers have discovered what not to do if you’re moving back in with your parents
In further proof that no topic is too domestic for scholarly analysis, researchers discovered how to navigate moving back in with your parents.
“We think the findings are valuable because they provide some guidelines people can use to help ensure that ‘moving back home’ is a step forward instead of a step backward,” says Lynsey Romo, an associate professor of communication at North Carolina State University, who has coauthored a paper called “A Normative Approach to Understanding How ‘Boomerang Kids’ Communicatively Negotiate Moving Back Home.” Spoiler alert: Many do not negotiate well.
The researchers studied the “dilemmas and strategies” of 31 adults, ages 22 to 31, who had previously lived elsewhere, and then returned to live with their parents. They commonly struggled with paving an adult identity while not living independently. Five guidelines emerged:
The study launched pre-pandemic. “The trend is increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic woes,” says Romo. The study appears in a journal called Emerging Adulthood.
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