I Felt Like My Heart Was Staying Behind: Psychological Implications of Family Separations & Reunifications for Immigrant Youth

Though many transnational families undergo profound transformations that are often complicated by extended periods of separation between loved ones, it is challenging to establish a sense of prevalence of family separations as well as their effects on youth. Utilizing the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation data with 282 newcomer adolescents from China, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico, the authors report that nearly three quarters of the participants had been separated from one or both parents for extended periods. Results of general linear model (GLM) analyses indicate that children who were separated from their parents were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety and depression in the initial years after migrating than children who had not been separated; follow-up analyses 5 years later show that symptoms had abated. Qualitative data from youth and parents shed light on the experience of separations and reunifications.