Risk of mental health and nutritional problems for left-behind children of international labor migrants

Abstract

BackgroundOne-in-ten Sri Lankans are employed abroad as International Labor Migrants (ILM), mainly as domestic maids or low-skilled laborers. Little is known about the impact their migration has on the health status of the children they ‘leave behind’. This national study explored associations between the health status of ‘left-behind’ children of ILM’s with those from comparative non-migrant families.MethodsA cross-sectional study design with multi-stage random sampling was used to survey a total of 820 children matched for both age and sex. Socio-demographic and health status data were derived using standardized pre-validated instruments. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to estimate the differences in mental health outcomes between children of migrant vs. non-migrant families.ResultsTwo in every five left-behind children were shown to have mental disorders [95%CI: 37.4-49.2, p < 0.05], suggesting that socio-emotional maladjustment and behavioural problems may occur in absence of a parent in left-behind children. Male left-behind children were more vulnerable to psychopathology. In the adjusted analyses, significant associations between child psychopathological outcomes, child gender and parent’s mental health status were observed. Over a quarter (30%) of the left-behind children aged 6–59 months were ‘underweight or severely underweight’ compared to 17.7% of non-migrant children.ConclusionsFindings provide evidence on health consequences for children of migrant worker families in a country experiencing heavy out-migration of labour, where remittances from ILM’s remain as the single highest contributor to the economy. These findings may be relevant for other labour ‘sending countries’ in Asia relying on contractual labor migration for economic gain. Further studies are needed to assess longitudinal health impacts on the children left-behind.

The impact of parental labour migration on left‐behind children's educational and psychosocial outcomes: Evidence from Romania

“…These papers provide evidence that children left‐behind are more prone to depression, anxiety, and other emotional and mental health problems, in response to the migration of their parents (Graham & Jordan, ; Shi et al., ; Wang et al., ; Zhao et al., ; Zhou et al., ), with children of migrant mothers most affected (Hewage, Bohlin, Wijewardena, & Lindmark, ). Closely related, some studies indicate that children living in migrant families are significantly more likely to have behavioural problems compared with those from nonmigrant households (Vanore et al., ; Wickramage et al., ). It has been shown that problems with personal conduct are more prevalent among male left‐behind children and emotional problems among female children (Graham & Jordan, ; Liu et al., ; Vanore et al., ).…”

Impact of parental migration on psychosocial well-being of children left behind: a qualitative study in rural China

“…A meta-analysis found that parental migration was associated with increased risk of mental health problems in Chinese children [8]. LBC were also shown to be prone to loneliness [9–11], low life satisfaction and depression [12, 13], low self-esteem [14], and behavioral problems [15, 16], in China and globally.…”

Protecting the Welfare of Children and its Causal Effect on Limiting Mother's Labour Migration

“…Similar to Wickramage et al. (), in their qualitative approach Siriwardhana et al. () also find that parental absence lead to negative impact on children left behind, while Siriwardhana et al.…”

“…Improving this limitation, Wickramage et al. () use a nationally representative sample of migrants and find that two in every left‐behind children have mental disorders, male left‐behind children are more vulnerable to psychopathology, emotional and conduct disorders are more prevalent in the male‐caregiver households, and underweight is more prevalent among left behind children of migrants. The authors also find significant associations between child's psychopathological outcomes, child's gender and parent's mental health status.…”