providing psychological services for children of overseas filipino workers.docx

8/9/2019 Providing psychological services for children of overseas Filipino workers.docx

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Providing psychological services for childrenof overseas Filipino workers (OFWs): Achallenge for school psychologists in thePhilippines

1. Maria aridad !. "arro#a ⇑$. %atrina . Fernando

1. De La Salle University, Philippines

1. Maria Caridad H. Tarroja, Psychology Department, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.

mail! maria.caridad.tarroja"dls#.ed#.ph

A&stract

$n the last %& years, there has 'een a rapid increase o( )ilipino parents leaving the co#ntry and their (amilies (or 'etter jo' opport#nitiesa'road. *isting literat#re points o#t the impact o( migration on the (amilies and on the +ell'eing, academic per(ormance, and school'ehavio#rs, (amily and peer relationships o( the children le(t 'ehind, and the need (or interventions to address these concerns. - revie+ o( the literat#re and a s#rvey on the c#rrent practices in schools reveals a lac o( str#ct#red and programmatic interventions in school, +hichmental health pro(essionals in schools recogni/e to 'e essential to help 0) children adj#st 'etter. Considering the gaps in the c#rrentpractice, +e recommend that more p#rposive school'ased and (amily(oc#sed psychological services are implemented to help the children

and (amilies le(t 'ehind 'y 0) parents.

Migrant Parents and the Psychological ell2eing o( Le(t2ehind Children in

So#theast -sia

lspeth 3raham and L#cy P 4ordan

-#thor in(ormation 5 Copyright and License in(ormation 5

This article has 'een cited 'y other articles in PMC.

-'stract

Transnational migration from the global south is creating new family forms. Growing numbers of parents from low-

income countries in Southeast Asia are joining the global movement of workers responding to labor shortages in wealthier

countries of the region and beyond. As populations in more developed countries age and demand for service workers

grows, an increasing proportion of these migrant parents are mothers who leave their families and children behind to take

up temporary! employment providing domestic and care services to distant others. A common feature of all such

migrations is the creation of a transnational family where children are geographically separated from one or both parents

over an e"tended period. #t is likely that several million children in the region are currently growing up in the absence of

their mother or father, or both, and there is an urgent need for a better understanding of the impacts of family separation on

the health and well-being of children left behind. This paper focuses on the psychological well-being of children under $%

years of age in #ndonesia, the &hilippines, Thailand, and 'ietnam using a standardi(ed instrument to measure

psychological distress as reported by the child)s principal caregiver. &sychological well-being is thus defined as the

absence of indicators of psychological distress. The analysis used primary data collected for a reasonably large sample of

children in each of the four study countries and is the first study in the region, and to the best of our knowledge worldwide,

to e"plore the psychological well-being of children left behind in low-income countries within an international

comparative framework.

http://spi.sagepub.com/search?author1=Maria+Caridad+H.+Tarroja&sortspec=date&submit=Submithttp://spi.sagepub.com/content/34/2/202.abstract#corresp-1http://spi.sagepub.com/content/34/2/202.abstract#corresp-1http://spi.sagepub.com/search?author1=Katrina+C.+Fernando&sortspec=date&submit=Submitmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Graham%20E%5Bauth%5Dhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Jordan%20LP%5Bauth%5Dhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/citedby/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/citedby/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/citedby/http://spi.sagepub.com/content/34/2/202.abstract#corresp-1http://spi.sagepub.com/search?author1=Katrina+C.+Fernando&sortspec=date&submit=Submitmailto:[email protected]://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Graham%20E%5Bauth%5Dhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Jordan%20LP%5Bauth%5Dhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/citedby/http://spi.sagepub.com/search?author1=Maria+Caridad+H.+Tarroja&sortspec=date&submit=Submit


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This paper brings together two literatures that have developed somewhat independently* first, the international migration

literature, which has e"amined many aspects of the transnational family from a broad social science perspective, and,

second, the more speciali(ed literature in child mental health that has focused on the implications of parent+child

separation in different conte"ts, including transnational living arrangements. hereas the former conceptuali(es migration

as a household livelihood strategy within the framework of the ew conomics of /abor 0igration 1Stark 2 3loom,

$4567 Toyota, 8eoh, 2 guyen, %99:;, the theoretical foundations of the latter lie in object relations 1Ainsworth, 3lehar,

aters, 2 all, $4:5; and attachment theory 13owlby, $4657 Grossman, Grossman, 2 ater, %9967 /ee 2 ro(co, Todorova, 2 /ouie, %99%;. The lack of comparable work on the psychological well-being of left-

behind children presents particular challenges, as there is no established theoretical framework to guide the analysis.

evertheless, insights provided by the different emphases and interests within these two literatures make important

contributions to understanding the costs and benefits of parental migration for children left behind.

Studies of international labor migration have tended to view the temporary movement of migrants across borders as a

family livelihood strategy that aims to improve the socioeconomic circumstances of both the migrant and those left

behind. There is now an e"tensive literature on the impact of remittances sent back by migrants to family members in their

countries of origin 1e.g., Adams 2 &age, %9967 /einbach 2 atkins, $4457 /evitt, %99$7 'etrovec, %99?;. Although there

is some debate about whether labor migration helps to reduce poverty at the macro scale and in the longer term,

remittances have been found to improve economic circumstances at the household scale. Those left behind may thus benefit from increases in family income spent on improved nutrition, housing, access to health care, and schooling 1


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attachments to other mothers! 1Schmal(bauer, %99?; and change their perceptions of authority figures 1Smith, /alonde, 2

@ohnson, %99?;. #t is thus plausible to suppose that transnational family arrangements could e"act a high emotional cost

from both migrant parents and other family members left behind7 yet, as3ernhard, /andolt, and Goldring 1%996; observe,

HtIhere has been a lack of investigation using even the most basic social indicators of well-being and health of children in

such situations! 1p. %;. The small number of recent studies that have e"amined children)s e"perience of separation from a

parent during the migration process have not only been retrospective but have mostly been conducted in host countries

such as the Lnited States or Danada after family reunification. Their findings with respect to child mental health outcomes

have been mi"ed.

Some studies have found no differences between immigrant and nonimmigrant children 13eiser, ro(co and colleagues used data from immigrant youth recently arrived in the Lnited States

from various countries of origin to e"plore separation and reunification among immigrant families. They found that

children who arrived as part of a family unit were less likely to report depressive symptoms than children whose families

had been geographically separated prior to reunification, but no significant difference between separated and nonseparated

children on other measures. The length of separation from a parent was not found to be associated with psychological

symptoms. Another study among Daribbean immigrants to Danada, also using standardi(ed scales, found serial migration

to be detrimental to parent+child bonding and children)s behavior and self-esteem 1Smith et al., %99?;. Curther, it appearsthat psychological symptoms may manifest later in life. 0organ and colleagues, for e"ample, linked the heightened rate of

psychotic disorders among the Daribbean community in /ondon to earlier separation from parents. >ther studies have

employed Fualitative methods, conducting interviews with small samples of immigrant mothers to e"plore e"periences of

separation from children 13ernhard et al., %996; or decisions to separate, as in the case of Dhinese mothers in Toronto

planning to send their infants back to Dhina 13ohr 2 Tse, %994;. #n these studies, the pain of separation is clearly

conveyed by informants, but whether there are measurable effects on the psychological well-being of children, or parents,

is not addressed.

3o to!

Conte*ts and Concepts

The literature focusing on immigrant groups in host countries tends to be e"ploratory in nature and limited in scope

because of a lack of adeFuate data. 0ost studies adopt the conceptual framework of attachment theory, predicting poor

emotional outcomes for those who e"perience losses or disruptions in primary attachment relationships 1Ainsworth et al.,

$4:57 3erlin, Miv, Amaya-@ackson, 2 Greenberg, %99:7 3owlby, $465;. DritiFues within this literature provide support for

two important observations about parent+child separation during serial migration. The first highlights the need for

analytical approaches and clinical practice to incorporate cultural diversity, because not all children e"periencing

transnational family arrangements will react in the same way 13ohr 2 Tse, %994;. &sychological outcomes may be affected

by sociocultural conte"ts in countries of origin, especially where local social norms favoring e"tended-family involvement

in childrearing challenge models of attachment devised in uro-American settings 13ernhard et al., %9967Calicov,

%99:7 Su=re(->ro(co et al., %99%;. Second, negative outcomes for the psychological well-being of separated children may

vary across different stages in the migration process and over an individual)s life course. A limitation of immigrant studiesin host countries is that they do not e"amine child mental health during separation. A reasonable assumption is that

retrospective recall after children have e"perienced the stresses of reunion, including adjustment to a new culture and

perhaps separation from a substitute caregiver 1Smith et al., %99?;, would provide only an indirect indication of well-being

during the period of separation from a parent and may actually capture the pro"imate factors more strongly.

A third observation, well recogni(ed in the migration literature, concerns diversity in the migration process itself. The

underlying conte"t in studies conducted among immigrant groups in orth America or urope is the process of serial

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migration and family reunification in the host country. Although Southeast Asian populations have participated in such

migration flows in the past, temporary! movements of parents to host countries followed by family reunion in the country

of origin is now more common. 0ost left-behind children in the region are not presented with the promise, or threat, of a

new life in a foreign land and do not therefore face the same disruptions and losses e"perienced by immigrant children in

urope or orth America. They must still bear the pain of ambiguous loss 1Su=re(->ro(co et al., %99%; and the

uncertainties inherent in maintaining a relationship with a distant parent, but family reunion, if and when it occurs, is

likely to take place in familiar surroundings. hether and in what ways differences in the anticipated location of family

reunification influence a child)s e"perience of transnational family arrangements is unknown. evertheless, insofar as

stability and familiarity during childhood are protective for psychological health, these differences may be significant.

Kesearchers need to develop interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks that link diversity in migration conte"ts to culturally

sensitive understanding of child+parent separation.

3o to!

The Psychological ell2eing o( Le(t2ehind Children in So#theast -sia

The prevailing e"perience of separation from a migrant parent in Southeast Asia is one in which left-behind children

e"pect their absent mother or father to rejoin the family in the country of origin. >ften the length of the period of absenceis uncertain, as migrants renew short-term 1typically %-year; contracts, perhaps several times, according to family

circumstances. Governments in the region promote the temporary out-migration of workers through agreements with

foreign governments and recruitment agencies, and in many localities a culture of migration encourages new generations

to seek employment abroad. As Asis 1%99J; notes, in the &hilippines wanting to work abroad has become a national

obsession. ho goes, where they go, and how long they remain away is thus influenced by multiple factors.

The femini(ation of transnational labor migration over the past decade has seen the out-migration of more mothers who

leave young children behind. This has become a common occurrence in some countries, but not all. #n the &hilippines and

#ndonesia, for e"ample, women outnumber men among documented overseas workers, and many are mothers, whereas in

Thailand the independent out-migration of married women and mothers is a much rarer event. #n the mainly patriarchal

societies of the region, social norms regarding the role of women as mothers inform children)s e"pectations of who will

nurture them and, conseFuently, intensify their sense of loss when it is their mother who migrates 1Asis, %99J7 &arreEas,

%99$;. This leads us to e"pect that children of migrant mothers may be at greater risk of poor mental health because most

will have e"perienced separation from their primary caregiver 1Su=re(->ro(co et al., %99%;.

The absence of fathers is understood differently. #n her work on fathering from a distance among Cilipino transnational

families, &arreEas 1%995; points out that the migration of Cilipino men maintains the traditional gender division of labor

and argues that transnational fathering is primarily demonstrated through displays of authority and the imposition of

discipline from afar. Gender ideologies are eFually influential in promoting public an"ieties about the effects of separation

on Cilipino children. #n the &hilippines, the migration of mothers has fueled worries about left-behind children becoming

spendthrift, delinFuent, addicted to drugs, and emotionally scarred 1Asis, %99J7 D0#-D3D&A>S+0anila, S0D, 2

>A, %99?;. 8et few studies to date have investigated the potentially different impacts of absent mothers and absent

fathers on the psychological well-being of left-behind children, although one early study of :94 Cilipino children aged $9to $% years concluded that the absence of the mother had the most disruptive effect in terms of lower school grades and

poorer social adjustment 13attistella 2 Donaco, $445;.

The aim of this paper is to e"tend understanding of the psychological well-being of children in Southeast Asia by

investigating whether children in transnational households are more likely to suffer psychological distress than their peers

in nonmigrant households. Two hypotheses suggested by the literature on parental absence in the conte"t of transnational

labor migration are tested*

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Hypothesis 1. Children living in transnational households have poorer psychological well-being (as measured by presence

of abnormal emotional symptoms and conduct problems) compared to children living with both parents.

Hypothesis 2. Children of migrant mothers have poorer psychological well-being than children of migrant fathers, when

compared to children living with both parents.

Nata for each country were analy(ed separately because it was anticipated that relationships would vary across different

cultural and political settings. ot only were the study samples drawn from different language groups, but the national

policy conte"t, which influences the si(e and composition of transnational migration flows, also varies. Separate analyses

for the four study countries allowed a focus on the characteristics of individuals and households within a comparative

framework, whereas primary data collection facilitated the comparability of measures.

3o to!

Method

Nata collected in %995 as part of a cross-sectional baseline study of Dhild nly one target child was identified in each household, and Fuotas ensured appro"imately eFual

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numbers of girls and boys and young and older children. #f more than one child was eligible, supervisors were instructed

to randomly select one of the children and assign this child for recruitment to the interviewer. Cor each province, eight

Fuotas defined by household migration status, child age, and child gender were then filled systematically according to

which cell in the sampling matri" was most under Fuota. As each cell began to fill up, field workers encountered a few

households where two children of the same age and gender both Fualified for the same sub-Fuota. #n this instance, a child

who was available and amenable was recruited, which may have biased the sample slightly. Across the four countries,

however, the number of households with same gender+age eligibility was low 1J.4Q across the full sample and the entire

data collection period;. Pualifying households agreeing to participate were recruited to the study, and screening proceeded

until all specified Fuotas had been filled. Though the samples are not nationally representative, they are of sufficient si(e

to conduct comparative analyses. Cor ease of reporting, the country name is used here when referring to the country

samples.

#n each household recruited to the survey, interviews were conducted in local languages with a responsible adult, the

primary caregiver of the target child and, for the older age group, the target child. Nata for the present study were drawn

from the responsible adult and primary caregiver interviews. Puestionnaires were compiled in nglish, and

translationback-translation used to ensure that meanings in local versions were as near as possible to the original.

Translation for standardi(ed measures, including the Strengths and Nifficulties Puestionnaire 1SNP;, followed a more

rigorous protocol. The protocol for the SNP was based on other international studies 1


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Table 1

Composition of Sample (N = 3,876)

&oor psychological well-being was interpreted as the presence of certain symptoms and behaviors indicative of a mental

disorder and thus of psychological distress. &ossible cases of mental disorder were identified using the %6-item SNP, a

screening tool developed by Kobert Goodman in the Lnited ingdom 1K .Goodman, $44:;. The SNP is now available in

more than J9 languages and is widely employed in urope and orth America. There have been fewer studies reporting on

its use in low-income countries, although it has been used in Asia and the 0iddle ast 1Cuhr 2 Ne Silva, %9957

K. Goodman, Kenfrew, 2 0ullick, %9997 Samad,


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nonmigrant households. Second, following previous studies, we hypothesi(ed differences among children in transnational

households, such that the freFuency of predicted emotional and conduct disorders would be highest among children of

migrant mothers. Three types of transnational household were distinguished according to which parent was absent and

whether the principal caregiver of the child was the left-behind mother 1father-migrant mother-caregiver;, the left-behind

father 1mother-migrantfather-caregiver;, or other! 1parent-migrantother-caregiver, a mi"ed group but mainly

grandparent caregivers in mother-migrant households;. The second of these categories was dropped for Thailand. The

group of children in nonmigrant households, where both parents were usually resident, was used as the reference category

in all models. Table % presents the distribution of cases with abnormal scores 1i.e., scores above the cut point; on

emotional symptoms and on conduct problems, by migrantcaregiver status, child age, and child gender across the four

study countries. There are noticeable differences in the overall percentage of abnormal scores between the countries,

which may reflect variability in culturally acceptable child behaviors.

Table 2

Percentage of bnormal Scores on C!il" Ps#c!ological $ell%&eing 'easres b# 'igration Stats,

C!il" en"er, an" C!il" ge

Cor the father-migrantmother-caregiver and the mother-migrantfather-caregiver groups, the gender of the person

reporting SNP scores for the target child is known, as it was the indicated caregiver in all cases. Cor children in the

reference group, SNP scores were reported mainly by mothers 14$Q in #ndonesia, 4%Q in the &hilippines, 4?Q in

Thailand, and 5BQ in 'ietnam;. A minority of SNP scores for these children in usually resident! households were

reported by fathers or other members of the household, such as grandparents. &ossibly, generational and gender differences

in the reporter could influence the observed outcomes, although prior research suggested that grandparents, for e"ample,

reliably reported child mental health problems 1&almieri 2 Smith, %99:;.

As this is the first study of its kind, a central concern was to establish whether or not there was a significant association

between child psychological well-being and 1a; the migration status and 1b; the migrationcaregiver status of the

household in which the child lived. #n this respect, the models reported in Tables B + 6 are e"ploratory rather than

e"planatory and include covariates identified from the relevant literature on child mental health rather than factors 1e.g.,

freFuency of contact with migrant parent; that might e"plain! outcomes for children in different types of household

within each country. >nly those factors identified as potential confounders of the relationship between the key predictor of

household migrationcaregiver status and emotion and conduct disorders were therefore included in the multivariate

models. These relate to characteristics of the child, the caregiver, and the household. Cirst, SNP ratings for communitysamples have been found to vary according to the age and gender of the child 1Nu et al., %99570atsuishi et al., %9957 &rior

et al., %996;. Therefore, child age 1B+6 years vs. 4+$$ years; and child gender were controlled in all models. #n addition,

the parity of the child was included to reflect position in the household and, for those countries with sufficient 1though

small; numbers, child long-term disability to account for mental disorders that may be related to comorbidity 1Cuhr 2 Ne

Silva, %995; rather than parental migration.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl2/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl2/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b43http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl3/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl3/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b17http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b38http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b38http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b38http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b23http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b23http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b23http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl2/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl2/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b43http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl3/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b17http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b38http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b23http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b23


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Table 3

Smmari*e" 'lti+ariate 'o"els for C!il" motional S#mptoms an" Con"ct Problems

Table -

'lti+ariate 'o"els Pre"icting C!il" Con"ct Problems in .or Sot!east sian Contries

The second group of potential confounders concerns characteristics of the principal caregiver who completed the SNP for

the child in his or her care. As a tendency for depressed mothers to overreport problem behaviors in their children has been

reported by Nav, a(areth, Senior, and Sherr 1%995;, a measure of caregiver mental health derived from the %9-item Self-

Keporting Puestionnaire 1SKP+%9; was included. The SKP+%9 is recommended by the orld rgani(ation and

widely used to screen for mental health problems. #t has been validated for 'ietnam, along with many other countries

1Tuan,


10/23

+tatistical Methods

Two sets of multivariate logistic regression models were fitted. The first set 1Table B, 0odels A and 3; modeled outcomes

for two groups of children by household migration status 1nonmigrant vs. transnational households; on the two SNP

subscales 1emotional symptoms and conduct problems, respectively;. The second set 1Tables ? and and6, 6, 0odels D and

N; used a subdivision of transnational households to investigate the associations between migrationcaregiver status and

emotional and conduct disorders. #n both sets, basic models were fitted first for each of the four countries and for the two

mental health measures, accounting only for child age and child gender. e"t, the group of other possible confounders was

added to each model in order to ascertain whether any relationship between household migration status 1or

migrationcaregiver status; and child mental disorders remained once known covariates were taken into account. The same

models were fitted for each country, with the e"ception of the e"clusion of child long-term disability due to small numbers

in the e"tended models for conduct problems in #ndonesia and 'ietnam. #nteractions between migrationcaregiver status

and other household structure variables and between child parity and younger siblings were investigated, but no significant

and stable interactions that improved model fit were found 1results not shown;. #n the absence of an established theoretical

basis for their inclusion, interactions were dropped from the final model on the grounds of parsimony. 3eta coefficients,

standard errors, and e"ponentiated beta coefficients are reported in Tables B, ,?, ?, and and6 6.

Table /

'lti+ariate 'o"els Pre"icting C!il" motional S#mptoms in .or Sot!east sian Contries

#n all models, children in transnational households were compared to children in nonmigrant households with both parents

usually resident.! The predominance of mother-caregivers reporting SNP scores for children in this reference group has

been noted. To investigate whether the presence of a minority of other-caregivers reporting SNP scores impacts on model

results, these cases were dropped and all multivariate models were rerun. The results 1not shown; confirmed the stability

of the original models. ith few e"ceptions, the significant associations found in the e"tended models 10odels 3 and N;

were the same as those in the original models.

3o to!

6es#lts

hildren in "ransnational !oseholds ,erss hildren -iving With oth Parents

Table B presents a summary of the first set of models 10odels A and 3; e"amining differences between the group of

children living in transnational households where one parent is absent and those living with both parents. 0odel A

includes child age and child gender, and 0odel 3 adds the additional confounders. The structure of both models is

identical to that of 0odels D and N, respectively, with the e"ception of the migration status variable. To avoid repetition,

comments are confined to the results presented in Table B as they relate to


11/23

The relationship between living in a transnational household and e"periencing emotional problems differed across the four

countries. >nce child age 1younger and older age groups; and gender were accounted for in the basic model predicting

emotional symptoms 1Table B, motional &roblems, 0odel A for each country;, significant differences between children in

the two types of household were found only for #ndonesia and the &hilippines, and then with a relationship in opposite

directions. hereas left-behind children in transnational households in #ndonesia were more likely to suffer emotional

distress compared to children living with both parents 1e ! R $.J%7 ! R .?5;, the opposite appeared to be the case in the

&hilippines 1e ! R 9.:97 ! R U.B6;. hen the other identified confounders were added to these models 1Table B, motional

&roblems, 0odel 3 for each country;, however, only the relationship for #ndonesia remained significant, with a slight

downward trend in the point estimates 1e ! R $.6:7 ! R .?6;, lending support to


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0igrationcaregiver status was sometimes significantly associated with predicted emotional disorders but not always in the

same direction. Dhildren in father-migrantmother-caregiver households in #ndonesia 1e ! R %.$J7 ! R .::; and in 'ietnam

1e ! R $.6B7 ! R .?B; had a greater odds of e"periencing an emotional disorder compared to children living with both parents.

#n contrast, Cilipino children in father-migrantmother-caregiver households had lower odds of e"periencing an emotional

problem compared to those in nonmigrant households 1e ! R 9.J47 ! R U.B5;. Curther, in 'ietnam it was children in mother-

migrantfather-caregiver households who were less likely than those living with both parents to e"perience an emotional

disorder 1e ! R 9.6%7 ! R U.J6;, whereas in #ndonesia the association was in the opposite direction, although the results did

not Fuite reach significance 1 p .$9;. #n Thailand, no significant differences were found between children living with both

parents and those in transnational households.

&otential confounders, noted in previous research, were included in the e"tended models 1Table ?, 0odel N for each

country;. The results show that, in several cases, the observed associations between migrationcaregiver status and child

emotional health remained significant and in the same direction once these additional variables had been accounted for.

Cor #ndonesia the odds increased, with emotional disorders more likely among children in father-migrantmother-caregiver

households compared to those living with both parents 1e ! R %.J97 ! R .4J;. #n 'ietnam, the eFuivalent estimates declined

slightly and only approached significance 1 p V .$9;, but remained in the same direction. 'ietnam is the only country where

children appear to derive an emotional advantage from being left behind in the care of their fathers, with children in

mother-migrantfather-caregiver households having lower odds of e"periencing an emotional disorder compared tochildren in nonmigrant households 1e ! R 9.6$7 ! R U.J:;. >nce selected individual and household characteristics were

accounted for in the &hilippines sample, there were no remaining significant differences among Cilipino children living in

different types of household.

Conduct problems

The proportion of children classified as having a conduct disorder ranged from 4Q in 'ietnam to %:Q in Thailand. #n the

basic model, associations between the migrationcaregiver status of children)s households and reported conduct disorders

again varied across the four study countries, but not in the same way as for emotional disorders 1Table 6, 0odel D for each

country;. >nce child age and gender were accounted for, there were no significant differences in reported conduct

problems between #ndonesian or 'ietnamese children living in transnational households and those living with both

parents.

Cor Thailand and the &hilippines, migrationcaregiver status was sometimes significantly related to child conduct

disorders, but in different directions. Thai children in father-migrantmother-caregiver households had greater odds of

being reported with a conduct disorder, compared to children living with both parents 1e ! R $.?%7 ! R .B6;. Cilipino children

in transnational households, on the other hand, appear to be less likely to e"hibit problematic conduct, despite popular

worries to the contrary. Dhildren in father-migrantmother-caregiver households had lower odds 1e ! R 9.JJ7 ! R U.?$; of

having a conduct disorder whereas those in mother-migrantfather-caregiver households had even lower odds 1e ! R

9.B57 ! R U.46;7 both comparisons are with children living with both parents. This result was modified slightly when other

variables were added to the model.

The e"tended models showed that some significant associations between migrationcaregiver status and child conduct

disorder remained after controlling for potential confounders 1Table 6, 0odel N for each country;. Donduct disorders were

more likely for Thai children in father-migrantmother-caregiver households compared to those in nonmigrant households

1e ! R $.?57 ! R .B4;. Cor the &hilippines, relationships remained in the opposite direction. Cilipino children in mother-

migrantfather-caregiver households had lower odds of having a conduct disorder compared to children living with two

parents 1e ! R 9.?97 ! R U.4%;. Dhildren in father-migrantmother-caregiver households also had lower odds 1e ! R 9.:$7 ! R

U.B6;, although this falls just short of significance 1 p V .$9;.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl4/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl4/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/


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>verall, the results present a comple" picture in which psychological distress is significantly associated with transnational

family arrangements for some children in some countries, but not all. Dhildren in transnational families with other!

caregivers are not significantly different from children living with both parents in any of our models, although this finding

may be compromised by small numbers. evertheless, there is no evidence in any of the country samples that children of

migrant mothers in the care of their fathers have relatively poorer psychological well-being than children of migrant

fathers in the care of their mothers, when benchmarked against children in nonmigrant households.


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society provides more supports for those left behind. e found no evidence of poorer psychological well-being among

Cilipino children in transnational households compared to children in nonmigrant households. >n the contrary, the results

indicate that children in both father-migrantmother-caregiver and mother-migrantfather-caregiver households are less

likely to have conduct disorders and are no more likely to have emotional disorders than children living with both parents.

This supports the conclusions of other recent research where Cilipino children in transnational families were found to be

less an"ious and less lonely than their counterparts in nonmigrant families, contrary to popular perception 1Asis, %99J;.

&erhaps the normali(ation of transnational families, especially in the high out-migration areas from which our sample was

drawn, is protective for the psychological well-being of children with migrant parents, even when the mother is absent.

Social norms are important mediators of how parent+child separation is understood. Su=re(->ro(co and colleagues 1%99%;,

for e"ample, point out that there is no stigma to child fostering in communities where it is widely practiced, and it may be

that separation from a migrant parent is less traumatic when the e"perience is shared by neighboring children. #t is also

possible that modern communications, such as computer and mobile phones, play a role in keeping the absent parent

virtually present.! The &hilippines is the largest source of overseas foreign workers in the region, with annual

deployments more than double those from #ndonesia. Such conte"tual factors appear to be uniFuely protective in the

&hilippines but reFuire further research to establish their relationship to the psychological well-being of children with a

migrant parent.

0uch of the prior work investigating the impact of parental migration on left-behind children in Southeast Asia has beenconducted in the &hilippines. This study cautions against overgenerali(ation because it suggests that findings for Cilipino

children may not be applicable across the region. e found that poorer psychological well-being is associated with

transnational family arrangements for some children in each of the other study countries. #ndonesian children of migrant

fathers left behind in the care of their mother appear to be at greatest risk of emotional, but not conduct, disorders when

compared with their peers living with both parents. Cuture research should e"amine the conte"tual factors that might

e"plain this finding, including cultural norms relating to the role of women in society and reconfigurations of family life

following the departure of a husband and father. Cor 'ietnam, too, there is some evidence of an emotional cost for the

children of migrant fathers, which might also be related to patriarchal gender ideologies in that country. >nly for Thailand

is there evidence of a relationship between migrant fathers and conduct disorders for children left in the care of their

mothers. The different social and cultural conte"ts of transnational migration from Thailand are highlighted by the absence

of migrant mothers in the sample. Transnational migration of parents is a less common occurrence in Thailand than in the

&hilippines or #ndonesia, and in the vast majority of cases involves a father going overseas leaving children behind. hy

Thai children left in the care of their mothers should be at greater risk of conduct disorders is unclear, and further research

into the relationship between left-behind mothers and their children is needed. #t is likely, nonetheless, that conte"tual

factors also play a part. Domparative research for Thailand and the Lnited States using the D3D/ found that Thai

respondents were more likely to include less serious aggressive child behaviors with more serious destructive child

behaviors 1eis(, eiss, Suwanlert, 2 Dhaiyasit, %99B;. The authors argue that any type of aggression is possibly

considered over the threshold of social acceptability within the Thai conte"t. The current finding about elevated conduct

problems among Thai children may lend further support to this argument.

The prevalence of internali(ing and e"ternali(ing disorders is known to vary based on the gender of the child across

diverse cultural conte"ts 1Drinjnen et al., $44:;. The findings from this study provide some further support for the

relationship between gender and e"ternali(ing disorders, whereas the support for universality of gender and internali(ingdisorders is less consistent. Curther research should consider e"amining the relationship between internali(ing disorders

and child gender within the Asian conte"t. #t is also possible that psychological well-being and child gender may be related

to gender of migrant parents. As we have established some evidence of culturally conte"tuali(ed patterns of psychological

well-being in this e"ploratory study, an important ne"t step would be to e"amine more nuanced factors such as these. The

previous literature on the relationship between child psychological well-being and child age is less eFuivocal about

e"pected relationships, although in general early childhood is more associated with e"ternali(ing behavior problems

compared to adolescence 1Drinjnen et al., $44:7 gger 2 Angold, %99J;. The current study provides further support for

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b4http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b60http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b14http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b14http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b14http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b18http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b4http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b60http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b14http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b14http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b18


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prior research and adds some additional information about possible differences between preschool children compared to

those in middle childhood.

A, %99?;, providing some support for the

observation that, as international out-migration becomes more normative within communities, certain child behavioral

problems may decrease. This provides one possible e"planation for the conflicting finding for wealth in the 'ietnamese

conte"t, where international out-migration is less prevalent than it is in the &hilippines. #nterestingly, however, wealth doesnot appear to be generally associated with conduct problems for the children in our samples. >nly in Thailand, and then

only for children in the wealthiest group of households compared to those in the poorest group, is the association

significant and protective, with these children 6BQ less likely to e"hibit conduct problems compared to their nonmigrant

peers, all else being eFual.

>ne of the strengths of this study is that the mental health of caregivers 1who are also the reporters for child psychological

well-being; is accounted for in the e"tended multivariate models. Daregiver mental health status is a consistently important

predictor of emotional and conduct disorders for children in all four countries. The Df particular relevance is the consideration that the presence

of strong civil society support organi(ations, which have developed partly in response to policy efforts, may be important

contributors to the observed outcomes in the &hilippines. Keplicated studies with other samples are necessary to confirm

1or revise; the effect si(es for emotional and conduct disorders shown in Tables ? and and6, 6, to gain insight into the

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b12http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b28http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b28http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b28http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b6http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b6http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b21http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b26http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b26http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b26http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl4/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl4/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b12http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b28http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b48http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b6http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b21http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b26http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/#b26http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl4/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229683/table/tbl5/


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generali(ability of the findings reported here, and to determine if any important unidentified confounders were e"cluded

from the study design.

ithin the conte"t of this study, a major issue challenging the interpretation of the findings is the comparability of

caregiver ratings. Are fathers as reliable as mothers in rating their child)s behavior, for e"ampleW SNP scores used in this

study are based on the ratings of the principal caregiver of the target child. Cor children in nonmigrant households and

transnational households with an absent father, this is typically the child)s mother, but in transnational households with an

absent mother, the caregiver may be the father, a grandparent, another relative, or even a family friend. Although &almieri

and Smith 1%99:; confirmed the structural validity of the SNP in a sample of custodial grandparents in the Lnited States,

other research Fuestions the comparability of ratings by caregivers with different relationships to the child. Cor

e"ample,Nav et al. 1%995;, in their study of SNP scores reported by %?5 parent dyads, found that fathers in the Lnited

ingdom reported higher mean scores than mothers for e"ternali(ing behaviors, including conduct problems, and more

abnormal behaviors. #f such differences apply to the parental ratings used in this study, then comparisons of mother-rated

and father-rated reports for different groups of children may be problematic. >n the other hand, as an e"planation of the

differences between parental scores, Nav et al. noted that mothers are more often the principal caregivers and spend more

time with their children than fathers, possibly desensiti(ing them to their children)s problem behavior. #n the present study,

SNP scores are reported by either the mother or the father 1not parent dyads;, with both fathers and mothers being

principal caregivers of the child they are assessing. #nsofar as the interactions with their child are based on a similarrelationship 1that of principal caregiver;, their ratings may be more comparable than those of two parents of the same

child, only one of whom is the child)s principal caregiver.

A more important limitation concerns the use of SNP ratings to identify cases of possible emotional and conduct disorder.

This study followed other research conducted in Asia by adopting cutoffs developed for L.. samples, as did Cuhr and Ne

Silva 1%995; for the Total Nifficulties score in their study of children in 'ietnam. DonseFuently, a substantial percentage of

children 1up to B9Q for emotional symptoms in #ndonesia; were classified in the abnormal category. This is comparable to

proportions found in &akistan 1Samad et al., %996;. evertheless, we cannot determine whether there is a high prevalence

of psychological disorders among children in our samples or whether cutoffs reFuire adjustment to avoid false positives.

vidence from other studies is eFuivocal. Nu and colleagues 1%995;, for e"ample, confirmed L.. cutoffs for the

motional Symptoms and Donduct &roblems subscales for a sample of Dhinese children, whereas 0atsuishi and

colleagues 1%995; adjusted L.. cutoffs upward for the parent-rated Donduct &roblems subscale based on a community

sample of @apanese children. Kesolution of this issue awaits normative data for the study countries.

The cross-sectional data allowed the measurement of the psychological well-being of children in different types of

transnational households during a period when they had been separated from their migrant parent for at least J months,

and the benchmarking of the results against those for children in nonmigrant households in the same communities.

0igration is always selective and, although differences in socioeconomic status at the time of the interview were

accounted for by including a wealth inde", the relative wealth of transnational households prior to parental migration is

unknown. Curther, different dimensions of selection may be important in different countries. #n 'ietnam, for e"ample,

some communes offer loans to facilitate migration, which make it possible for less well-off parents to take up employment

overseas. #n the other study countries, the costs of migration may prevent poorer households from considering

transnational migration as a viable livelihood strategy. here migrants are drawn from relatively better-off households,children in transnational households may always have been less vulnerable to psychological disorders than their peers in

nonmigrant households. /ongitudinal data sets, which include measures of psychological well-being both before and after

a parent migrates, are reFuired to better address such problems of selectivity.

Transnational family arrangements now affect millions of children worldwide. This study suggests that some of these

children may suffer psychological distress as a result of separation from a parent. #n Southeast Asia, concern has focused

particularly on the children of migrant mothers, who are popularly seen as being most at risk for negative impacts. #t is

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17/23


18/23


19/23

>nstitte

&ase" on se+eral st"ies "one b# non%go+ernmental an"

go+ernment organi*ations, abot nine million .ilipino c!il"ren n"er

t!e age of 18 are left be!in" b# one or bot! parents to 0ortentati+el# or li+e permanentl# abroa"

Economic benefts

T!e economic bene?ts of migration to families, commnities, an"

t!e state are n"eniabl# tre

.$s sent !ome @123 billion or abot P61- billion in t!e ?rst nine

mont!s of 28, a 171 percent increase "espite t!e global

slo0"o0n t!at economists 0arne" ma# bite t!e local econom# in

2A

emittances B a e# contribtor to t!e P!ilippine econom# B

reac!e" @13 billion or more t!an P6- billion in September alone,

16A percent !ig!er t!an in 27

:earl# 1 percent of t!e contr#;s A million people 0or o+erseas,0it! t!e mone# t!e# sen" !ome ei+alent to abot 1 percent of

t!e contr#;s gross "omestic pro"ct

$it! remittances last #ear totaling to @1//- billion or more t!an

P722 billion, t!e go+ernment pre"icts t!at t!e 28 remittances 0ill

!it @1-7 billion or almost P8 billion

e#es sai" t!at in terms of in+estment in e"cation, t!e mone#brog!t in b# migrant parents increase t!e le+els of e"cational

attainments among t!eir c!il"ren, opening p more opportnities for

t!eir ftre

4emittances "o !elp impro+e t!e alit# of life of t!e migrants an"


20/23

t!eir families, s!e sai"

!ge percentage of t!e parents; remittances go to tition fees of

t!eir c!il"ren, allo0ing t!em to enroll in pri+ate sc!ools oDering

goo" alit# e"cation

T!e professor note" t!at ot!er st"ies sa# remittances can bene?t

t!e c!il" in terms of allo0ing access not onl# to leisre an"

recreation bt also to cltral acti+ities an" contribting to !ig!er

ac!ie+ements in sc!ool

nsring t!at ot!er critical elements sc! as p!#sical, mental,

moral, spirital an" social aspects of li+ing are present for t!e

c!il"ren is also consi"ere" as a bene?t

Social costs

Eo0e+er, e+en if .ilipino families recei+e ?nancial spport from

famil# members abroa", e#es sai" t!ere are !ar"l# e+i"ences to

s!o0 !o0 !ose!ol"s bene?t from it

4$!ile t!e crrent +olme of remittances F seem to constitte a

great resorce to tap for t!e promotion an" protection of c!il"ren;s

rig!ts, t!e pre+ailing separation of one or bot! parents from t!eir

c!il"ren "e?nitel# goes against t!e interest of t!e c!il"ren, s!e

sai"

T!e so%calle" 4social cost of migration is actall# somet!ing t!at

nee"s serios attention, sai" e#es

S!e sai" t!at alt!og! remittances gi+e 0a# to a better stan"ar" of

li+ing for migrant families an" goo" e"cation opportnities for t!e

c!il"ren, t!e nfortnate impact of migration to families left be!in"

is immeasrable


21/23

ccor"ing to t!e Con+ention on t!e ig!ts of C!il"ren, parents !a+e

t!e moral obligation an" responsibilities for t!e pbringing an"

"e+elopment of t!eir c!il"ren

&t 0it! t!e absence of t!e parents, tec!nological mec!anisms lie

celllar p!ones an" compters !a+e become t!e "efalt sbstitte

to personal parenting

4(Eo0e+er, t!is) 0ill still not replace t!e emotional bon"ing t!at can

"e+elop in t!e relations!ip 0!en t!e# are p!#sicall# present t t!e

same time, t!e# 0ill miss t!e gro0ing p #ears of t!eir c!il"ren an"

t!eir +ale formation, s!e sai"

e#es sai" t!at se+eral st"ies s!o0e" !o0 migration of parents is

in"ee" !eart%breaing for c!il"ren, maing t!em long for parental

care, get confse" o+er gen"er roles, be +lnerable to abse, an"

e+en "e+elop consmerist attit"es

Longing or parental care

4T!og! famil# separation ma# not necessaril# lea" to eGtreme cases of emotional

"istrbance an" "elinenc# among c!il"ren, c!il"ren !a+e "iDerent le+els of acceptance an" tolerance of t!e migration "epen"ing on t!eir cogniti+e

"e+elopment, s!e sai"

S!e a""e" t!at #ong c!il"ren ma# see t!is as aban"onment an" not see t!e 4ot!er

si"e of t!e pictre

4>t col", !o0e+er, !a+e eit!er a positi+e or negati+e eDect for a"olescents H

some0!at !app# becase of t!e material bene?ts bt t!e painfl one if t!e# cannot

!i"e t!eir sa"ness, s!e sai"

n" regar"less of t!e material bene?ts, t!e c!il"ren of mot!er migrants still

consi"er migration as a form of aban"onment, lea+ing t!em 4less sociall# a"


22/23

'oreo+er, s!e sai" t!e parents; long perio" of absence gi+es t!eir c!il" a feeling of

4permanence of absence, similar to t!at eGperience" b# orp!ans an" aban"one"

c!il"ren

4'ost of t!em !a+e not reall# gotten to no0 t!eir parents 0ell becase t!e# !a+e

not li+e" 0it! t!em for #ears C!il"ren can onl# associate t!eir parents 0it! t!emone#, gifts, an" p!one calls, s!e sai"

Conusion over gender roles

s man# #ong a"lts 0it! migrant mot!ers feel neglecte" or aban"one", t!e# "o

not see t!eir fat!ers performing t!e 4caring 0or in t!e famil#

4T!e# pass o+er t!e caring responsibilities to ot!er 0omen in t!e famil#, more often

to t!e el"est "ag!ter, sai" e#es

T!is, t!e at!or sai", is !o0 societ# +ie0s t!e 4"#sfnctional transnational

families

4 blaming t!e migrant 0omen;s "isrptions of t!e gen"er con+entions, t!ere is

also a greater "eman" for c!il"ren;s care eGpectations from 0omen t!an from

men, s!e sai"

ulnerabilit! to abuses

e#es sai" t!at one of t!e 0orr#ing aspects of parental absence is t!e pre+alence of

abse of t!e c!il"ren left be!in"

S!e sai" t!at among t!e c!il"ren of migrants, it is t!e male c!il"ren 0!o report

more eGperiences of abse t!an female c!il"ren

4en"er "iDerences 0ere largest for sc! abses as being belittle" an" being !rt

T!e feeling of being aban"one" 0as rat!er prononce" among t!e c!il"ren of

migrant mot!ers (bo#s an" girls alie), s!e sai"

"eveloping consumerist attitude

'ost c!il"ren accept t!e migration of t!eir parents as an opportnit# to !a+e a

better life

Eo0e+er, t!e# onl# see t!e 4mone# ei+alent of migration

4s long as t!e# recei+e t!eir mone# reglarl#, t!e# 0ill be ?ne T!is also lea"s to a

materialistic attit"e of c!il"ren of migrants, sai" e#es


23/23

Ea+ing "iscsse" t!e economic bene?ts of migration +is%I%+is its social costs, e#es

stresse" t!at migration is a process t!at aDects t!ose 0!o mo+e, t!ose 0!o sta#

be!in", an" t!e places 0!ere t!e# go to

4People !a+e been on t!e mo+e since !man life began, (!o0e+er) migration isneit!er a ne0 p!enomenon, a failre of "e+elopment, nor a sbstitte for

"e+elopment, s!e sai"

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providing psychological services for children of overseas filipino workers.docx

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