A Longitudinal Analysis of Well-Being of Ghanaian Children in Transnational Families

Spatial variations in health service utilization among migrant population: a perspective on health equity

As health equity becomes a prioritized goal in global health policy, extensive research has revealed that socio-economic and geographical factors jointly exacerbate barriers to medical service access for both internal and international migrant populations, further accelerating existing health disparities. This study explores healthcare service utilization disparities among internal migrants in China, a population profoundly affected by the country's economic reforms and urbanization since the late 1970s. These transformations have led to significant migratory movements and subsequent healthcare challenges for these populations. Leveraging data from the 2017 China Migrant Dynamic Survey, comprising 169,989 samples across 28 provinces, we introduce a novel metric-the "No Treatment ratio" (NT-ratio). This ratio quantifies the proportion of migrants who, after falling ill, choose not to seek treatment relative to the total migrant population in a given province or region, serving as a critical measure of health risk. Building upon Anderson's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, we adapted the model to better reflect the unique circumstances of migrant populations. The study employs spatial autocorrelation, hotspot analysis, and geodetector techniques to dissect the multifaceted factors influencing healthcare disparities. Our Findings reveal that the NT-ratio is significantly higher in eastern and northeastern China. Key factors influencing the NT-ratio include age, left-behind experiences, health education, and per capita medical resources. In response to these disparities, we recommend optimizing the distribution of medical resource, strengthening tiered diagnosis and treatment systems, and integrating health, education, and social security resources. These measures aim to improve healthcare utilization among migrant populations and reduce health inequities, aligning with global health objectives.

Longitudinal associations between parental migration and children's psychological well-being in Southeast Asia: The roles of caregivers' mental health and caregiving quality

OBJECTIVE

This study investigates the longer-term effects of parental migration on the psychological well-being of children who stay behind in two major labor-sending countries in Southeast Asia, namely, Indonesia and the Philippines. Adopting the framework of the 'care triangle', we further examine how caregivers' mental health and caregiving quality moderate the associations between parental migration and children's psychological well-being.

METHODS

Using longitudinal data collected in 2008 and 2016/17, we assess children's psychological well-being during early childhood (aged 3-5 years) and again in adolescence (aged 11-13 years). We apply both fixed-effects and random-effects models, using the Hausman test to indicate the preferred model.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that there is no significant longer-term effect of parental migration on children's psychological well-being, but parental migration tends to show adverse effects on Filipino children's psychological well-being when they are cared for by a caregiver with poor mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

The two-country comparison demonstrates the complexities of understanding the gender-based influences of parental migration on children's psychological well-being. The findings also highlight the caregiver's role in maintaining frequent communications with migrant parents within the care triangle, which is crucial to children's well-being.

Influence of family structure on adolescent deviant behavior and depression: the mediation roles of parental monitoring and school connectedness

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore the specific pathway of family structure on adolescent health.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

We examined the influence of family structure on adolescent deviant behavior and depression, as well as the mediation roles of parental monitoring and school connectedness, using the multivariate regression and Karlson-Holm-Breen mediation models.

RESULTS

Compared with adolescents in intact families, those in non-intact families showed more deviant behaviors and depression. Parental monitoring and school connectedness appeared to be two important pathways from family structure to deviant behavior and depression. In addition, urban and female adolescents in non-intact families showed more deviant behaviors and depression than their rural and male counterparts, respectively. Furthermore, adolescents in reconstituted families showed more deviant behaviors than those in single-parent families.

CONCLUSIONS

The behavioral and mental health of adolescents in single-parent or reconstituted families deserves more attention, and interventions should be actively conducted at both family and school level to improve adolescent health.

Measuring Happiness in Adolescent Samples: A Systematic Review

Background: Happiness is a phenomenon that relates to better mental and physical health and even longevity. There has been an increase in surveys assessing subjective well-being as well as happiness, one of the well-being components that reflect one’s feelings or moods. Happiness is mostly measured in adult samples. There is a lack of an overview of the tools used to evaluate adolescent happiness, so this paper aimed to review them. Methods: A literature search was performed in the PubMed and PsycArticles databases (2010–2019). In total, 133 papers met the eligibility criteria for this systematic review. Results: The results are grouped according to the type of measure, single or multiple items, that was used in a study. Almost half of the studies (64 of 133) evaluated subjective happiness using single-item measures. The most commonly used scales were the 4-item Subjective Happiness Scale and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Among the 133 articles analyzed, 18 reported some validation procedures related to happiness. However, in the majority of cases (14 studies), happiness was not the central phenomenon of validation, which suggests a lack of happiness validation studies. Conclusions: Finally, recommendations for future research and for the choice of happiness assessment tools are presented.

Transnational Parenthood and Migrant Subjective Well-Being in Italy

Transnational parents are migrant mothers and fathers who have at least one child left behind in the home country. Despite their non-negligible prevalence in many destination countries, scarcity of data on the topic has caused a lack of attention to this phenomenon in both policy and scholarship. In particular, little is known about how the interplay between migration and family relations at a distance affects the individual well-being of both migrant parents and their left-behind children, especially in a European context. This article evaluates the subjective well-being of migrant couples currently residing in Italy who have children left behind, compared with childless migrants and with migrant parents living with their children in Italy. Multivariate logistic regression applied to individual-level data from Istat's Survey on Social condition and integration of foreign citizens, 2011–2012, shows that transnational parents experienced lower levels of self-rated health compared with migrants with different family statuses and that the well-being loss associated with transnational parenthood is strongly gendered. Controlling for individual characteristics, socio-economic conditions, the presence of minor children, and migration background, our analysis demonstrates that men's subjective wellbeing did not vary based on their family status while transnational mothers experienced significantly lower well-being compared with childless migrant women. Our research suggests the need for adopting a transnational approach to migration starting from data gathering, for instance through the design and implementation of multi-sited and retrospective surveys.

Connection in Youth Development Key to the Mental Health Continuum in Ghana: A Structural Equation Model of Thriving and Flourishing Indicators

Practitioners from sub-Saharan Africa are working to provide evidence-based intervention programs to address the mental health of established adults in poor rural communities in Ghana. However, institutions in Ghana also pursue youth policy for training human capital that can contribute to national development as a strategy to leverage its heavy demographic makeup of adolescents and emerging adults. Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a framework for measuring indicators of thriving for such youthful populations. Studies have recently examined PYD in terms of developmental assets with mental illness, but less is known about their interaction with the continuum of mental health, which poses strength-based theoretical distinctions about the conditions of human flourishing. Investigating positive mental health in terms of well-being, along with developmental indicators from another conception of PYD with strong theoretical grounding known as the 5Cs, represents a salient cross-section of Ghana's current trajectory along these policies and evaluations of culturally attuned well-being toward youth-focused efforts. Thus, the aim of this study was to clarify whether developmental constructs could predict positive mental health outcomes for indications of adaptive regulation processes and cultural concepts of well-being. We used structural equation modeling of the PYD domains (i.e., the 5Cs) to provide novel insights into individual differences in factors of thriving with flourishing-languishing indicators from the mental health continuum (MHC; i.e., factors of Emotional, Social, and Psychological Well-being) for 710 youth and emerging adults (M age=19.97, SD=1.93) attending a university in Ghana. The results showed supported paths for Connection, which was associated with all three MHC well-being domains (βs=0.34-0.41), and Caring, which was associated with Psychological Well-being (β=0.27), as factors to consider for youth who are expected to underwrite Ghana's development under economically challenged conditions. These findings support evidence-based program outcomes and prior work that situates social relations as a key route to maintaining well-being, advancing research on the specificity of predictors for positive mental health factors among young people in an enterprising Ghana.

Intergenerational differences in dietary acculturation among Ghanaian immigrants living in New York City: a qualitative study

Dietary acculturation may explain the increasing risk of diet-related diseases among African immigrants in the United States (US). We interviewed twenty-five Ghanaian immigrants (Youth n 13, Age (Mean ± sd) 20 y ± 5⋅4, Parents (n 6) and Grandparents (n 6) age 58⋅7 ± 9⋅7) living in New York City (NYC) to (a) understand how cultural practices and the acculturation experience influence dietary patterns of Ghanaian immigrants and (b) identify intergenerational differences in dietary acculturation among Ghanaian youth, parents and grandparents. Dietary acculturation began in Ghana, continued in NYC and was perceived as a positive process. At the interpersonal level, parents encouraged youth to embrace school lunch and foods outside the home. In contrast, parents preferred home-cooked Ghanaian meals, yet busy schedules limited time for cooking and shared meals. At the community level, greater purchasing power in NYC led to increased calories, and youth welcomed individual choice as schools and fast food exposed them to new foods. Global forces facilitated nutrition transition in Ghana as fast and packaged foods became omnipresent in urban settings. Adults sought to maintain cultural foodways while facilitating dietary acculturation for youth. Both traditional and global diets evolved as youth and adults adopted new food and healthy social norms in the US.

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

Labour migration is a challenge for the globalised world due to its long-term effects such as the formation of transnational families. These families, where family members of migrant workers are “left-behind”, are becoming a common phenomenon in many low- and middle-income countries. Our systematic literature review investigated the effects of international parental labour migration on the mental health and well-being of left-behind children. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we performed searches in PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar, resulting in 30 finally included studies. We found that mental health and well-being outcomes of left-behind children differed across and sometimes even within regions. However, only studies conducted in the Americas and South Asia observed purely negative effects. Overall, left-behind children show abnormal Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores and report higher levels of depression and loneliness than children who do not live in transnational families. Evidence from the studies suggests that gender of the migrant parent, culture and other transnational family characteristics contribute to the well-being and mental health of left-behind children. Further research utilising longitudinal data is needed to better understand the complex and lasting effects on left-behind children.

Migration and child health in Moldova and Georgia

There is scarce empirical evidence on the relation between migration and child health in Moldova and Georgia-two post-Soviet countries with large out-migration flows in the region. This study uses nationally representative data collected in 2011-2012 in Moldova (N = 1601) and Georgia (N = 1193) to investigate how children's health associates with five transnational characteristics: migrant and return-migrant household types, parental migration and parental divorce, maternal and/or paternal migration and caregiver's identity, the duration of migration, and remittances. Findings show that, regardless of the transnational family setting, children of migrants have overall positive or no differing health compared to children in non-migrant households. However, significant gender differences are found in both countries. More often than not, Moldovan and Georgian girls are more at risk of having poorer health when living transnationally. These results add nuance to a field of research that has mainly emphasized negative outcomes for children in transnational care.