Empty Nest Syndrome Scale- Indian Form (ENS-IF)

The feeling of grief and loneliness are profound in parents when their children become independent and leave the nest (house) making the parents feel ‘empty’ and ‘blue’. Empty-Nest Syndrome seems to be a maladaptive reaction to this transition. To measure the level of Empty-Nest Syndrome experienced by the parents whose children left their homes for the pursuit of their careers, work, marriages, and other factors, the Empty-Nest Scale was developed in the study. The scale was responded to by 201 participants ranging in the age group of 45-70 years old. The item-total correlation and inter-item correlations were found with the help of Cronbach’s alpha testing. Cronbach’s alpha showed the scale reached acceptable reliability of 0.919. The aim is to study the aspects of emptiness and despairing among the Empty-Nesters. The study also explores the factors that are considered inevitable for the notion of Empty-nest or Empty-Nest Syndrome such as not being able to celebrate the festivities with their children, not being physically present to attend the achievements of their children, or not being able to spend the days of retirement with their children.