The impact of adult child emigration on the mental health of older parents

Mosca, Irene; Barrett, Alan

doi:10.1007/s00148-015-0582-8

Cited by 31 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Other countries included Thailand (n = 3), Moldova and India (n = 2), and Mexico and Ireland (n = 1). Four studies were longitudinal [ 26 , 30 , 35 , 53 ] with the remainder cross sectional with the exception of one qualitative study [ 64 ].…”

Section: Results Of the Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration of adult children and mental health of older parents ‘left behind’: An integrative review

et al. 2018

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BackgroundAlthough a number of studies have examined the effect of the out-migration of children on the mental health of ‘left behind’ elderly parents, research on the consequences of children’s migration on the mental health and well-being of elderly parents left behind is inconclusive and a systematic review is warranted.ObjectivesTo identify the association between the left behind or empty nest status and the mental health of older parents, and to identify common risk factors for poor mental health among those left behind.MethodsOnline databases CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and ProQuest were searched for research (2000-September 2017) that focused on the relationship between the migration of adult children and the mental health of the older parents (≥50 years) left behind. The JBI Checklist for Analytical Cross Sectional Studies was used to assess the methodological quality of the articles.Results25 articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies identified that left behind older parents had higher levels of mental health problems compared to non-left behind. Left behind parents had higher depressive symptoms, higher levels of loneliness, lower life satisfaction, lower cognitive ability and poorer psychological health. A number of risk factors were identified for mental health disorders among the left behind parents, which included living arrangements, gender, education, income, physical health status, physical activity, family and social support, age, rural residence and frequency of children’s visit.ConclusionsThis review synthesised the various studies related to the mental health of left behind parents, advancing the theoretical and empirical understanding of the implications of out-migration of adult children on the psychological health and well-being of older parents. More responsive preventive measures and effective management approaches are required for this vulnerable cohort.

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Section: Results Of the Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration of adult children and mental health of older parents ‘left behind’: An integrative review

et al. 2018

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“…She finds that migration leads to worsened levels of emotional wellbeing. For Ireland, Mosca and Barrett (2016) find that it is particularly mothers whose emotional health deteriorates if a child migrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does internal migration affect the emotional health of elderly parents left-behind?

Scheffel

Zhang²

2018

J Popul Econ

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The ageing population resulting from the one-child policy and massive flows of internal migration in China pose major challenges to elderly care in rural areas where elderly support is based on a traditional inter-generational family support mechanism. We use data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study to examine how migration of an adult child affects the emotional health of elderly parents left-behind. We identify the effects using fixed effects and IV approaches which rely on different sources of variation. We find that migration reduces happiness by 6.6 percentage points and leads to a 3.3 percentage points higher probability of loneliness. CES-D scores of elderly parents are severely increased pushing average scores close to the cut-off indicating clinical levels of depressive symptoms. As emotional health is a key determinant of the overall health status, our findings have significant impacts on economic development in China.

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“…Antman, 2010; Mosca and Barrett, 2016;Parrado et al, 2005;Ivlevs et al, 2019). Most often, these feelings are brought about by the separation from their loved ones; however, adverse mental states can also be caused by increased workload or a change in the head of household after a family member moves abroad.…”

Section: Adverse Psychological Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our study contributes to the literature on the effects of emigration on the health outcomes and healthy lifestyle behaviours of migrant relatives staying in the countries of origin. Previous contributions have focused on outcomes such as subjective health evaluation, obesity, body mass index, mental health, ability to perform daily tasks, nutritional diversity, and childbirth indicators (Anton, 2010;Antman, 2010;Antman 2016;Bohme et al, 2015;Creighton et al, 2011;Gibson et al, 2015;Hamilton and Choi, 2015;Hildebrandt and McKenzie, 2005;Kanaiaupuni and Donato, 1999;Kroeger and Anderson, 2014;Kuhn et al, 2011;Mosca and Barrett, 2016;Riosmena et al, 2012). Adverse health behaviours have remained overlooked and we fill this gap by focusing on alcohol consumption in Kyrgyzstan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emigration and alcohol consumption among migrant household members staying behind: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan

Paulone

Ivļevs

2019

Social Science & Medicine

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Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world's largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.

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The impact of adult child emigration on the mental health of older parents

Cited by 31 publications

References 37 publications

Migration of adult children and mental health of older parents ‘left behind’: An integrative review

Migration of adult children and mental health of older parents ‘left behind’: An integrative review

How does internal migration affect the emotional health of elderly parents left-behind?

Emigration and alcohol consumption among migrant household members staying behind: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan

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