Columbia University, New York, USA.
Int J Public Health. 2012 Aug;57(4):691-8. doi: 10.1007/s00038-011-0314-0. Epub 2011 Oct 21.
China has experienced large-scale internal migration and growing mental health disorders. Limited research has examined the relationship between the two processes. We examined the association between labor out-migration and depressive symptoms of family members left behind in migrant-sending areas.
We conducted a multistage probability sample survey of Chinese adults in 2008 ("Internal Migration and Health in China"), including 787 people in rural migrant-sending areas. To study whether adults in out-migrant households were more likely to experience depressive symptoms (CES-D) than were adults in non-migrant households, we used multivariate regressions and adjusted for a wide range of confounding factors and for the complex sampling design.
Adults in households with labor out-migrants were more likely to report depressive symptoms than those in households without out-migrants, presumably a result of the absence of family members. However, monetary remittances from labor migrants buffered the mental health costs of out-migration.
Labor out-migration has important consequences for the mental health in migrant-sending communities. There is an urgent need to address the psychological costs of migration and to promote regular remittances.
中国经历了大规模的国内移民和不断增加的精神健康障碍。有限的研究调查了这两个过程之间的关系。我们检验了劳务输出移民与留守移民输出地区家庭成员抑郁症状之间的关联。
我们在 2008 年进行了中国成年人的多阶段概率抽样调查（《中国的国内移民与健康》），其中包括 787 名农村移民输出地区的成年人。为了研究外出务工家庭的成年人是否比非外出务工家庭的成年人更容易出现抑郁症状（CES-D），我们使用了多元回归分析，并对广泛的混杂因素和复杂的抽样设计进行了调整。
与没有外出务工家庭成员的家庭相比，有外出务工家庭成员的家庭的成年人更有可能报告抑郁症状，这可能是因为家庭成员不在身边。然而，劳务移民的汇款缓解了移民带来的精神健康成本。
劳务输出移民对移民输出社区的精神健康有重要影响。迫切需要解决移民带来的心理成本，并促进定期汇款。
