ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
Effects of International Labour Migration on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Left-Behind Children: A Systematic Literature Review.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Parent Emigration, Physical Health and Related Risk and Preventive Factors of Children Left Behind: A Systematic Review of Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Physical Activity and Self-Reported Academic Achievement Among Rural Left-Behind Children: The Serial Mediating Roles of Character Strengths and Self-Control.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Bibliometric Review of Research on Children and Adolescents' Mental Health Following Parental Migration.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Review
- The association between perceived discrimination and Chinese adolescent loneliness: the roles of school bullying, suicide self-injury ideation, and teacher-student relationship.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Mental health among youth in a conflict area: a cross-sectional study of the effects of parental absence, social media, family support and religious practice on psychiatric symptoms in Thailand's southernmost provinces.Conflict and health · 2026Article
- Labor migration in rural Nepal Arghakhanchi communities: impacts on left-behind caregivers and children.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Adverse health outcomes among migrant workers and transnational families in the Asia-Pacific: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Article
- Association between going out for work and self-rated health of rural residents: a longitudinal study in Ningxia, China.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Impact of adult son migration on the health wellbeing of older parents and shifts in caregiving patterns: a study in India.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Non-suicidal self-injury risk among left-behind children and adolescents in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- The impact of parental migration on left-behind children's tooth health in China.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Music for displaced dyads: a mixed methods feasibility study on the impact of music therapy on the mental health and wellbeing of Ukrainian refugee families.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Parental Migration and the Social and Mental Well-Being Challenges among Indonesian Left-Behind Children: A Qualitative Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Emotional and behavioural problems of left behind children in Lithuania: a comparative analysis of youth self-reports and parent/caregiver reports using ASEBA.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- Positive Development Patterns in Left-Behind Adolescents: Do Resilience and Making Sense of Adversity Have Beneficial Effects?Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
- Article
- "Good childhood": children's perception and evaluation of transnational families.Frontiers in sociology · 2024Article
- Psychological impacts of maternal migration on left-behind children: a cross-cultural review.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Review
- Topics searched by first-time Indonesian fathers during pregnancy journey: An exploratory study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Examining the effects of parental migration on youth mental health and substance use: a qualitative study in rural Yucatán, México.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
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.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.