Identity formation of Italian emerging adults living with parents: A narrative study

This study examines the links between family and identity processes of Italian emerging adults living with their parents. Examining the impact of family is important in the countries of Mediterranean area where also emerging adults live with parents for a prolonged time. In Italy living with parents is associated with a specific “delay syndrome” in the transition to adulthood. Participants consisted of 20 Italian emerging adults attending second and last years of university, in a large Italian city (Naples). All participants were subjected to an open interview, based on the thematic life story. Our findings indicate that parents are perceived as active agents of identity, responsive and supportive of autonomy; they encourage the active involvement of young people in the work of identity formation. Despite this, parental impact produces different configurations that could shed light on the pathways of Italian emerging adults' transition to adulthood. The above configurations are discussed using exemplars.