Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The Impact of Parental Migration on the Mental Health of Children Left Behind

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aims to examine the impact of parental international migration on the mental health of children left behind. Data for this paper were taken from the “Child Health and Migrant Parents in South-East Asia, Thailand, 2008” project. A total of 1,030 children (519 from emigrant parents and 511 from non-migrant parents) were covered. Data were collected from the caregivers of children using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between parental migration and the mental health status of children left behind. Several factors were significantly associated with children’s mental health. Our study did not find any association between current parental migration status and mental health status of the children left behind. The study found, however, that mother’s earlier migration history had a significant, independent association with mental health problems of the children left behind. Therefore, effective strategies to prevent such mental health problems among children are warranted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aarons GA, Monn AR, Leslie LK, Garland AF, Lugo L, Hough RL, et al. Association between mental and physical health problems in high-risk adolescents: a longitudinal study. J Adolesc Health. 2008;43(3):260–7.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Achenbach TM, Becker A, Döpfner M, Heiervang E, Roessner V, Steinhausen H-C, et al. Multicultural assessment of child and adolescent psychopathology with ASEBA and SDQ instruments: research findings, applications, and future directions. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008;49(3):251–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Adhikari R, Jampaklay A, Chamratrithirong A. Impact of children’s migration on health and health care-seeking behavior of elderly left behind. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:143.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Adhikari R, Jampaklay A, Chamratrithirong A., Pattaravanich U, Vapattanawong P. The impact of parental migration on the mental health of children left behind. Paper presented at the Population Association of America, 2012 annual meeting program. 2012.

  5. Aguilera-Guzman RM, de Snyder VN, Romero M, Medina-Mora ME. Paternal absence and international migration: stressors and compensators associated with the mental health of mexican teenagers of rural origin. Adolescence. 2004;39(156):711–23.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Asis MMB. Living with migration: experiences of children left behind in the philippines. Asian Popul. Stud. 2006;2(1):45–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Battistella G, Conaco CG. The impact of labour migration on the children left behind: a study of elementary school children in the Phillipines. Sojourn. 1998;13(2):1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bourdon KH, Goodman R, Rae DS, Simpson G, Koretz DS. The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: U.S. normative data and psychometric properties. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2005;44(6):557–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Carballo M, Divino JJ, Zeric D. Migration and health in the european union. Tropical Med Int Health. 1998;3(12):936–44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Chant S, Radcliffe S. Migration and development: the importance of gender. In: Chant S, editor. Gender and migration in developing countries. New York: Belhaven Press; 1992. p. 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cortes R. Remittances and children’s rights: an overview of academic and policy literature: UNICEF 2007.

  12. Fan F, Sang B. Absence of parental upbringing and Liushou children’s personality, academic achievements as well as behavior problems. Psychol Sci. 2005;28(156):855–9.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fan F, Su L, Gill MK, Birmaher B. Emotional and behavioral problems of Chinese left-behind children: a preliminary study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010;45(6):655–64.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gao Y, Li LP, Kim JH, Congdon N, Lau J, Griffiths S. The impact of parental migration on health status and health behaviours among left behind adolescent school children in China. BMC Public Health. 2010;10:56.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Goodman R. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1997;38(5):581–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Goodman R. The extended version of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire as a guide to child psychiatric caseness and consequent burden. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1999;40:791–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Goodman R. Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2001;40(11):1337–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Goodman R, Ford T, Simmons H, Gatward R, Meltzer H. Using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) to screen for child psychiatric disorders in a community sample. Br J Psychiatry. 2000;177:534–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Gulati L. In the absence of their men: the impact of male migration on women. London: Sage publications; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hadi A. Overseas migration and the well-being of those left behind in rural communities of Bangladesh. Asia Pac Popul J. 1999;14:43–58.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Heiervang E, Goodman A, Goodman R. The Nordic advantage in child mental health: separating health differences from reporting style in a cross-cultural comparison of psychopathology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2008;49(6):678–85.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Hugo G. Effects of international migration on the family in indonesia. Asian Pac Migr J. 2002;11(1):13–46.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hysing M, Elgen I, Gillberg C, Lie SA, Lundervold AJ. Chronic physical illness and mental health in children. Results from a large-scale population study. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007;48(8):785–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Jampaklay A. Parental absence and children’s school environment: evidence from a longitudinal study in Kanchanaburi. Thail Asian Popul Stud. 2006;2(1):93–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Jampaklay A. Migration and children. In: Huguet JW, Chamratrithirong A, editors. Thailand migration report 2011—migration for development in Thailand: overview and tools for policymakers. Bangkok: International Organization for Migration, Thailand Office; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Jones A, Sharpe J, Sogren M. Children’s experiences of separation from parents as a consequence of migration. Caribb J Soc Work. 2004;3:89–109.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Jones H, Kittisuksathit S. International labour migration and quality of life: findings from rural Thailand. Int J Popul Geogr. 2003;9(6):517–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kahn K, Collinson M, Tollman S, Wolff B, Garenne M, Clark S. Health consequences of migration: evidence from south Africa’s rural Northeast. Paper presented at the African Migration in Comparative Perspective 2003.

  29. Konseiga A, Zulu ME, Bocquier P, Muindi K, Beguy D, Ye Y. Assessing the effect of mother’s migration on childhood mortality in the informal settlements of Nairobi. In: Collinson M, Adazu K, White M, Findley S, editors. The dynamics of migration, health and livelihoods. England: INDEPTH Network Perspectives; 2009. p. 123–38.

  30. Kuhn R. A longitudinal analysis of health and mortality in a migrant sending region of Bangladesh from Institute of Behavioral Science, Population Aging Center; 2003. http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/pubs/pac/pac2003-0004.pdf .

  31. Massey DS, Arango J, Hugo G, Kouaouci A, Pellegrino A, Taylor JE. An evaluation of international migration theory: the north American case. Popul Dev Rev. 1993;20(4):699–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Nanthamongkolchai S, Ladda M, Nichara R, Sirikul I. Family migration and IQ of school age children and adolescents in Thailand. J Demogr. 2006;22(1):33–45.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Phuc DH, Thanh XN, Chuc KTN. Migration and under five morbidity in Bavi, Vietnam. In: Collinson M, Adazu K, White M, Findley S, editors. The dynamics of migration, health and livelihoods. England: INDEPTH Network Perspectives; 2009. p. 169–84.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Pottinger AM. Children’s experience of loss by parental migration in inner-city Jamaica. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2005;75(4):485–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Salah MA. The impact of migration on children in Moldova: UNICEF 2008.

  36. Save the Children Sri Lanka. Left behind, left out: the impact on children and families of mother migrating for work abroad: summary report. Colombo: Save the children Sri Lanka; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  37. SMC. Hearts apart: migration in the eyes of filipino children: episcopal commission for the pastoral care of migrant and itinerant people-cbcp/apostleship of the sea-manila, Scalabrini Migration Center (SMC), and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration 2005.

  38. Stark O, Taylor JE. Migration incentives, migration types: the role of relative deprivation. Econ. J. 1991;101(408):1163–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Woerner W, Nuanmanee S, Becker A, Wongpiromsarn YAM. Normative data and psychometric properties of the Thai version of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. J Ment Health Thail. 2011;19(1):42–57.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Child Health and Migrant Parents in South-East Asia CHAMPSEA, 2008 project funded by The Wellcome Trust for providing access to the data. This paper is the revised version of the paper which was presented at Population Association of America 2012 annual meeting program [4]. We would like to thank all colleagues and reviewers who have provided comments on this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramesh Adhikari.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Adhikari, R., Jampaklay, A., Chamratrithirong, A. et al. The Impact of Parental Migration on the Mental Health of Children Left Behind. J Immigrant Minority Health 16, 781–789 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9809-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9809-5

Keywords

Navigation