School of Health Sciences, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
PLoS One. 2018 Oct 22;13(10):e0205665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205665. eCollection 2018.
Although a number of studies have examined the effect of the out-migration of children on the mental health of 'left behind' elderly parents, research on the consequences of children's migration on the mental health and well-being of elderly parents left behind is inconclusive and a systematic review is warranted.
To identify the association between the left behind or empty nest status and the mental health of older parents, and to identify common risk factors for poor mental health among those left behind.
Online databases CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and ProQuest were searched for research (2000-September 2017) that focused on the relationship between the migration of adult children and the mental health of the older parents (≥50 years) left behind. The JBI Checklist for Analytical Cross Sectional Studies was used to assess the methodological quality of the articles.
25 articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies identified that left behind older parents had higher levels of mental health problems compared to non-left behind. Left behind parents had higher depressive symptoms, higher levels of loneliness, lower life satisfaction, lower cognitive ability and poorer psychological health. A number of risk factors were identified for mental health disorders among the left behind parents, which included living arrangements, gender, education, income, physical health status, physical activity, family and social support, age, rural residence and frequency of children's visit.
This review synthesised the various studies related to the mental health of left behind parents, advancing the theoretical and empirical understanding of the implications of out-migration of adult children on the psychological health and well-being of older parents. More responsive preventive measures and effective management approaches are required for this vulnerable cohort.
尽管已有多项研究探讨了子女外流对留守老年父母心理健康的影响，但关于子女迁移对留守老年父母心理健康和福祉的影响的研究结果并不一致，因此有必要进行系统评价。
确定留守或空巢状态与老年父母心理健康之间的关联，并确定留守老年人心理健康状况不佳的常见危险因素。
在线检索 CINAHL、PsycINFO、PubMed、Scopus 和 ProQuest 数据库，检索时间为 2000 年至 2017 年 9 月，研究重点为成年子女迁移与留守老年父母（≥50 岁）心理健康之间的关系。使用 JBI 分析性横断面研究清单评估文章的方法学质量。
符合纳入标准的文章有 25 篇。研究表明，与非留守的老年父母相比，留守的老年父母心理健康问题更为严重。留守的老年父母抑郁症状更严重、孤独感更强、生活满意度更低、认知能力更低、心理健康状况更差。还确定了留守父母心理健康障碍的一些危险因素，包括居住安排、性别、教育、收入、身体健康状况、身体活动、家庭和社会支持、年龄、农村居住和子女探视频率。
本综述综合了与留守父母心理健康相关的各种研究，推进了对成年子女外流对老年父母心理健康和幸福感影响的理论和实证理解。需要针对这一脆弱群体采取更具针对性的预防措施和有效的管理方法。
