Parental migration and psychological well-being of left-behind adolescents in Western Nepal

Abstract

Introduction International migration is increasing rapidly around the world mostly to obtain a job. International migrant workers usually leave their children back in their country of origin, and among family members, adolescents may experience greater psychological distress from parental separation. However, limited evidence is available on the relationship between parental international migration and psychological well-being of left-behind adolescents. Nepal has a relatively higher and increasing number of international migrants, and this study was conducted to examine the association between parental international migration and the psychological well-being of left-behind adolescents in Nepal. Methods A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 626 adolescents in two districts of Western Nepal, where international migration is common. Adolescents were recruited through random sampling. Pre-tested “Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire” was used to measure their psychological well-being and simple and multiple linear regression were used to examine the association between parental international migration and the psychological well-being of left-behind adolescents. Results Adolescents with none of the parents living abroad were more likely to have higher total difficulties score compared to those with one of the parents living abroad (B: 1.02; 95% CI: 0.18, 1.86; p = 0.017). Adolescents with the following factors were more likely to have higher total difficulties score in comparison to their counterparts: adolescents in their late adolescence period, female adolescents, adolescents from ethnicities other than Brahmin and adolescents studying in private schools. Conclusion In rural districts of Nepal, where international migration is common, adolescents living with the parents were more likely to have poorer psychological well-being compared to those with one of the parents living abroad. Adolescents’ adaptation mechanism for the absence of parents for international migration might be explored in the future studies.

Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms among Chinese rural left‐behind adolescents: Mediating roles of resilience and friendship quality

“…It indicates that close friendship support strongly contributes to the resilience of adolescents through the provision of social support and active engagement. Furthermore, studies of left‐behind adolescents in China and Nepal have found that school support and friendship quality are important resources for preventing psychosocial problems in left‐behind adolescents due to a lack of family support (Kharel et al, 2021; Zhang & Wang, 2021). However, our study did not find friendship quality directly reduced the risk of later depressive and anxious symptoms but could reduce it by enhancing resilience.…”

Exploring Mental Health and Academic Outcomes of Children Receiving Non-manualized, Transdiagnostic, Task-Shifted Mental Health Care From Their Teachers in a Low-and-Middle Income Country

“…The SDQ is a standardized and validated self-administered form that screens for mental health struggles among children ages 4–16 years over the previous 6 months. As a newer instrument, it has not been validated for the Indian or Nepali contexts; however, it has been used by several studies in India for its global scoring system and brevity and has been shown to have acceptable reliability in one study in western Nepal, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.69 ( 33 , 34 ). Twenty-five items are rated on a 3-point scale (0–2), with 0 = not true and 2 = certainly true, with 5 items reverse scored.…”

Parental migration and psychological well-being of children. Longitudinal evidence from Ghana

“…Positive outcomes are found in relation to factors like cultural context, quality of caregiving arrangements, gender of the migrating parent, gender and age of the left-behind child, quality and quantity of communication with children, stability of the parental relationship and remittance driven improvements in living conditions of the child. Research from Nepal on the relationship between parental migration and psychological wellbeing of children suggests that adolescents with an international migrant parent had better psychological outcomes than those living with both parents (Kharel et al, 2021). In Ghana and Nigeria, evidence shows no significant difference in psychological health of children when parents migrate abroad as compared to children of non-migrants (Mazzucato et al, 2015;Mazzucato and Cebotari, 2017).…”

“…In cultures like Ghana where child fostering is the prevalent practice, this disruption can be caused indirectly by migration potentially disrupting the primary parental relationship and leading to divorce (Caarls, 2015;Poeze, 2018). Absence of the parent(s) can impact the child directly because of deprivation and indirectly because of the transformation of the physical and psychological environment of the child, resulting in problematic coping mechanisms, as chronicled in a number of studies (White et al, 2003;Parreñas 2005;Dreby, 2010;Graham and Jordan, 2011;Mazzucato & Cebotari, 2017;Kharel, et al, 2021). Furthermore, the nascent stages of cognitive development in younger years are characterised by limited capacity for abstraction leading to confusion in the younger child's mind about the reasons for the parents' absence (Piaget, 1964).…”