The empty nest period represents an important developmental transition in the life of both the family and the individual. The aim of this master’s thesis was to explore mothers’ experiences of their eldest daughter leaving home and to shed light on the emotional, relational, and identity-related processes that accompany this life transition. The theoretical framework is based on developmental psychology, attachment theory, family systems theory, and relational family therapy, with particular emphasis on the mother–daughter relationship.
The empirical part of the study was conducted within a qualitative research paradigm using a phenomenological approach. The sample consisted of seven mothers whose eldest daughters had moved out of the family home within the previous three years. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using Wertz’s phenomenological method, which focuses on exploring and describing the essential structure of lived experience through a systematic interpretation of participants’ narratives.
The findings indicate that the departure of the eldest daughter from home evokes a wide range of emotional responses in mothers, including feelings of loss, emptiness, grief, loneliness, and longing, as well as feelings of pride, satisfaction, and trust in their daughter’s independence. The analysis resulted in eleven central categories describing mothers’ experiences of this transition: motherhood as a central life relationship; emotional connectedness and closeness; feelings of loss, emptiness, and sadness; the empty nest as a developmental turning point; experiences of loneliness and changes in everyday life; changes in the partner relationship; transformation of family dynamics; searching for and exploring the self beyond the maternal role; new meanings of femininity and identity; factors of support and coping; and new dimensions of the relationship between the mother and her adult daughter. Based on these categories, a comprehensive analysis was developed, enabling a holistic understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.
The study revealed that motherhood constituted an important part of the participants’ identities, which often led the daughters’ departure to initiate a process of re-examining the self, personal needs, and life goals. The findings further suggest that a daughter’s departure from home does not signify the loss of the mother–daughter relationship, but rather its transformation into a more egalitarian relationship between two adult women.
The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the empty nest phenomenon in the Slovenian context and highlights the importance of recognising this life stage as a significant developmental process that, in addition to distress, may also provide opportunities for personal growth, identity transformation, and the development of new forms of interpersonal connectedness.
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