Prevalence and risk factors of common mental health symptoms among left-behind emerging adult children amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

backgroundThe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has threatened the public's physical health and brought great stress, leading to the development of mental health issues. Despite increasing research exploring the mental health impact of COVID-19, none so far have investigated the mental health of Filipino left-behind emerging adult children (LBEAC). To address this gap, the current study examined the prevalence, best-fitting model, latent groups, and associated risk factors of anxiety and depression among LBEAC amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

methodsA sample of 391 Filipino emerging adults aged 17 to 28, with at least one parent working overseas, was recruited to answer a packet of scales via an online platform.

resultsThe results revealed a one-factor model to be the best-fitting symptom structure model for both anxiety and depression. Further, the findings from the latent profile analyses revealed three latent groups with low, moderate, and severe levels of both anxiety and depression symptoms. In assessing the risk factors associated with anxiety and depression, the results consistently revealed that for socio-demographic characteristics, gender, high frequency of communication are associated with higher anxiety and depression. Moreover, in terms of pandemic-related experiences, LBEAC who have migrant parents who did not lose their jobs, who were worried about the health status of the migrant parents, whose allowance were reduced, and who were burdened by their limited financial resources are likely to belong to groups with moderate to severe anxiety and depression.

conclusionThe results provide an empirical and pragmatic basis for practitioners, academicians/researchers, and policymakers in implementing intervention efforts to promote the psychological health of LBEAC amid the pandemic.