Demographic and psychological determinants of homesickness and confiding among students

This study investigated some of the determinants of homesickness and reactions to homesickness in two samples of first‐year English psychology students who had left home for the first time. Homesickness was found to be a reasonably common but short‐lived phenomenon, and was predicted longitudinally by greater self‐reported dependency on other people and by higher estimates of the frequency of homesickness among students in general. Although homesickness was equally common in men and women, women were much more likely to discuss their feelings with others and to respond by being more affiliative. Greater anxiety and depression about homesickness were also associated with more confiding behaviour. There was a suggestion that homesick male students were more likely to seek out others, the more common they perceived homesickness to be.