The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood

Abstract While many studies investigate the effects of parental separation on children, whether in terms of short-term adjustment or long-term effects, the tendency is to examine each outcome in isolation, thus overlooking any interdependencies between them. In this paper, we focus on the impact of...

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Main Authors: Marcantonio Caltabiano, Silvia Meggiolaro, Valentina Tocchioni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-06-01
Series:Genus
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-025-00253-4
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author Marcantonio Caltabiano
Silvia Meggiolaro
Valentina Tocchioni
author_facet Marcantonio Caltabiano
Silvia Meggiolaro
Valentina Tocchioni
author_sort Marcantonio Caltabiano
collection DOAJ
description Abstract While many studies investigate the effects of parental separation on children, whether in terms of short-term adjustment or long-term effects, the tendency is to examine each outcome in isolation, thus overlooking any interdependencies between them. In this paper, we focus on the impact of parental separation on two main aspects defining the transition to adulthood: attainment of economic independence and the formation of one’s own household. Specifically, we examine in a comprehensive way whether young Italians whose parents separated during childhood or youth follow different trajectories compared to those whose parents remained together. Using data from two cross-sectional rounds of the “Families and Social Subjects” survey conducted in 2009 and 2016, we implement a sequence analysis multistate model procedure. Our results suggest that children of non-intact families follow particular trajectories, especially with respect to the formation of their own household, where cohabitation is favored.
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spelling doaj-art-0a0601dbefee463da72032524021ee442025-08-20T02:06:19ZengSpringerOpenGenus2035-55562025-06-0181113610.1186/s41118-025-00253-4The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthoodMarcantonio Caltabiano0Silvia Meggiolaro1Valentina Tocchioni2Università degli Studi di MessinaUniversità degli Studi di PadovaUniversità degli Studi di FirenzeAbstract While many studies investigate the effects of parental separation on children, whether in terms of short-term adjustment or long-term effects, the tendency is to examine each outcome in isolation, thus overlooking any interdependencies between them. In this paper, we focus on the impact of parental separation on two main aspects defining the transition to adulthood: attainment of economic independence and the formation of one’s own household. Specifically, we examine in a comprehensive way whether young Italians whose parents separated during childhood or youth follow different trajectories compared to those whose parents remained together. Using data from two cross-sectional rounds of the “Families and Social Subjects” survey conducted in 2009 and 2016, we implement a sequence analysis multistate model procedure. Our results suggest that children of non-intact families follow particular trajectories, especially with respect to the formation of their own household, where cohabitation is favored.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-025-00253-4Parental separationTransition to adulthoodEconomic independenceHousehold formationSequence analysisCompeting risk models
spellingShingle Marcantonio Caltabiano
Silvia Meggiolaro
Valentina Tocchioni
The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood
Genus
Parental separation
Transition to adulthood
Economic independence
Household formation
Sequence analysis
Competing risk models
title The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood
title_full The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood
title_fullStr The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood
title_full_unstemmed The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood
title_short The impact of parental separation on young Italians’ trajectories towards adulthood
title_sort impact of parental separation on young italians trajectories towards adulthood
topic Parental separation
Transition to adulthood
Economic independence
Household formation
Sequence analysis
Competing risk models
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-025-00253-4
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