Mental health effects of adult children’s outmigration on older parents in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Objective

To examine the association between adult children’s migration and depression among older parents in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and explore the role of intergenerational support in contributing to their depression.

Methods

Data are from the eighth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), pooling a study sample of 11 CEE countries, with a cross-sectional design. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and hierarchical linear regression were conducted using a study sample of 9133 respondents.

Results

Older adults whose children migrated over 500 km were more likely to experience depression compared to those with no migrant child or all children within 500 km. Among intergenerational support, frequent parent-child contact mitigated the effects of migration on depression in older parents with all their children who migrated over 500 km.

Conclusion

This study suggests that older parents with migrant children over 500 km away should be considered a vulnerable population at risk for mental health in CEE countries. It is crucial for local governments and policymakers to address these challenges through improving integrated mental health and social programs for better mental health outcomes among older adults in CEE countries.

Keywords:

• Depression
• migration
• older adults
• intergenerational support
• Central and Eastern Europe

Acknowledgements

This paper uses data from SHARE Waves 8 (DOI: 10.6103/SHARE.w8.800) see Börsch-Supan et al. (2013) for methodological details. The SHARE data collection has been funded by the European Commission, DG RTD through FP5 (QLK6-CT-2001-00360), FP6 (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812), FP7 (SHARE-PREP: GA N°211909, SHARE-LEAP: GA N°227822, SHARE M4: GA N°261982, DASISH: GA N°283646) and Horizon 2020 (SHARE-DEV3: GA N°676536, SHARE-COHESION: GA N°870628, SERISS: GA N°654221, SSHOC: GA N°823782, SHARE-COVID19: GA N°101015924) and by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion through VS 2015/0195, VS 2016/0135, VS 2018/0285, VS 2019/0332, and VS 2020/0313. Additional funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, the U.S. National Institute on Aging (U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064, HHSN271201300071C, RAG052527A) and from various national funding sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org).

Disclosure statement

The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.