Personal psychological resources mediate parent–child relationship and mental health among left‐behind children

Abstract

Discrepant findings on the impact of parental migration on left-behind children's (LBC) psychological health have been noted in the literature. While several studies have shown the negative effects of parental migration, burgeoning research has demonstrated contradictory findings. The present study aimed to clarify this issue by examining the association between family resources and mental health as mediated by personal psychological resources (PPRs). A sample comprised of 466 LBC (aged 11-17 years) answered a set of questionnaires assessing parent-child relationship, PPRs, and mental health symptoms. The results showed that PPRs, particularly emotional resources, significantly mediated the link between family resources and mental health. This suggests that LBC who have rich family resources (i.e., close parent-child relationship) have lower mental health problems due to higher emotional resources (i.e., satisfaction in life). Conversely, those who reported having poor family resources experienced a lower level of PPRs (i.e., emotional well-being), which in turn, increased their risk of having psychological distress. The "caravanning" of resources from family to personal resources is vital in protecting LBC's mental health.

Effects of International Labour Migration on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Left-Behind Children: A Systematic Literature Review

“…We identified 20 descriptive studies that included children of non-migrant parents as control groups [3,4,8,13,24,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. Two studies used longitudinal data [7,41].…”

“…Additionally, some studies investigated vulnerability, loneliness, being subject to bullying, involvement in conflicts and other behavioural outcomes. In some studies, authors used scales such as the Social Anxiety and Loneliness Scale [21], Anger Expression Scale for Children (AESC) [32], Parent-Child Relationship Schema Scale (PCRSS), Social Anxiety Disorder Dimensional Scale (SADDS) [39] and Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) [40]. Other tools included multi-dimensional well-being indexes consisting of the following six domains: education, physical and emotional health, housing, protection and communication access [4].…”

“…Asis [43] claimed that, in the Philippines, LBC have better well-being outcomes (social anxiety score: range 0-12, mean, SD; LBC = 4.77, SD = 2.45; NLBC = 5.18 SD = 2.30) than those residing with their parents. Mordeno and Gallemit [39] examined the role of personal psychological resources (PPRs) in the well-being of LBC and found that the reach PPR moderated the negative impact of migratory separation. In contrast, the studies of Jordan and Graham [28], Graham and Jordan [5] and Smeekens and Stroebe [31] reported negative associations of parents' labour migration on the happiness and resilience of LBC.…”

“…Happiness [7], satisfaction [3], school enjoyment [46], self-rated health [7] satisfaction [13], school enjoyment [28], self-rated health [3], well-being [24,30], cognitive ability [41] Eastern Europe self-rated health [8], well-being [4] coping [32], well-being [4] Americas self-esteem [36], coping [42], well-being [29,44], cognitive ability [41] South Asia cognitive ability [41] South East Asia well-being [43], personal psychological resources [39] happiness [5,31,43,46,47], cognitive ability [41], well-being [27,28,47] negative outcomes Africa behavioural problems [24,30], mental health disorders [24,30] Eastern Europe anxiety/stress [32,37], behavioural problems [33,38], emotional problems [38], depression [32,37] anger [32], behavioural problems [4], mental health disorders [4,…”

Stress‐related psychological outcomes: Psychological and biological mechanisms, developmental aspects, and management

“…The authors recommend that tailored interventions avoiding the effects of social support on self‐esteem should be used to improve migrant workers' mental health in high‐stress work environments. In another article, Mordeno, Gallemit, Lantud, and Hall () explored the relationship between family resources and individual mental resources as mediated by personal psychological resources (PPRs). The authors find a mediation effect of PPRs between family resources and mental health, revealing the importance of the caravanning of resources from family to personal resources in protecting the mental health of left‐behind children.…”