Objective
The current research investigated attachment styles, psychological wellbeing, and academic development among children in transnational family arrangements in Zimbabwe.
Methods
Purposive sampling was employed to select 57 children in transnational family arrangements and 41 children in conventional two-parent households aged between 8 and 14 years. Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire for latency-age children, Stirling Children’s Well-being Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Questionnaire for Evaluation of Development and Behavior were applied.
Results
The results revealed that there were no significant differences in attachment styles, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and academic development between the transnational and conventional family groups. Social desirability and prosocial behavior were significantly lower in the transnational group. Children with both parents as migrants had significantly lower scores for psychological wellbeing and higher scores for emotional symptoms and literacy problems than children with one migrant parent or conventional families.
Conclusion
There was no difference in attachment styles and academic development, which may be a reflection of the strength of the extended family in substituting parental care. However, children in transnational family arrangements scored poorly on the prosocial subscale of psychological wellbeing, which is associated with family cohesion. Parental migration negatively impacts family cohesion, especially when both parents migrate. When both parents migrate, the children exhibited emotional symptoms, literacy problems, poor prosocial behaviors, and poor psychological wellbeing because children receive reduced social support. This study reveals that a child’s age at the parent’s departure, family cohesion, and economic security are integral to ensuring the wellbeing of children in transnational family arrangements.
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of various populations. It is thought that international students are more affected by this situation among university students who are prone to mental disorders. For this reason, the aim of the current study was to investigate depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and perceived social support among international students in North Cyprus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and perceived social support scores were compared between international students who stayed in Cyprus during the quarantine period and students who returned to their home countries and also the factors predicting depression, anxiety and stress scores among international students staying in Cyprus during the quarantine period were examined. The sample of the study included 262 students who were recruited using convenience sampling. A socio-demographic form, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Short Form,
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