Adjustment of female adolescents leaving home for the military: Links with earlier individuation

The study examined the associations between female adolescents' individuation during mid-adolescence and their adjustment two years later to leaving home for mandatory military service. Forty nine daughter-mother dyads participated. Individuality and connectedness during adolescent-mother interactions were observed at age 16. Two years later girls reported on their psychological distress and negative expectations regarding the upcoming conscription, and both daughters and mothers reported on maternal support of daughters' autonomy. Controlling for these concurrent perceptions, girls' higher connectedness was associated with less psychological distress and their higher individuality in the context of low to medium connectedness was related to more negative expectations. These findings contribute to the literature on home leaving by showing that early individuation may play a role in female adolescents' adjustment to this transition. (C) 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.