Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH1 3LH, UK.
Chitwan Medical College, Tribhuvan University, Bharatpur P.O. Box No. 42, Nepal.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 17;17(4):1292. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17041292.
Spousal separation, lack of companionship, and increased household responsibilities may trigger mental health problems in left-behind female spouses of migrant workers. This study aimed to examine mental ill-health risk in the left-behind female spouses of international migrant workers in Nepal. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in the Nawalparasi district. Study areas were purposively chosen; however, participants were randomly selected. Nepali versions of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were used. Mental ill-health risk was prevalent in 3.1% of the participants as determined by GHQ. BDI identified mild or moderate depression in 6.5% of the participants with no one having severe depression. In bivariate analysis, a high frequency of communication with the husband was associated with lower mental ill-health risk and depression, as well as increasing resilience. Reduced return intervals of husbands and a high frequency of remittance were also associated with a low GHQ score. In a multiple regression model, adjusting for potential confounding variables, participants who communicated with their husbands at least once a day had a greater mean CD-RISC score (i.e., high resilience against mental ill-health risk) compared to those who did so at least once a week; a mean difference of 3.6 (95% CI 0.4 to 6.9), = 0.03. To conclude, a low mental ill-health risk was found in the female spouses of migrants.
留守在尼泊尔的外出务工男性的女性配偶可能会因为夫妻分离、缺乏陪伴和增加家庭责任而出现心理健康问题。本研究旨在考察尼泊尔国际移民工人留守女性配偶的心理健康风险。该研究采用横断面调查，在尼泊尔纳瓦尔帕拉西地区进行。研究区域是有目的地选择的，而参与者是随机选择的。使用了尼泊尔语版的 12 项一般健康问卷（GHQ）、贝克抑郁量表（BDI）和 Connor-Davidson 韧性量表（CD-RISC）。根据 GHQ，3.1%的参与者存在心理健康风险。BDI 发现 6.5%的参与者有轻度或中度抑郁，没有人有重度抑郁。在单变量分析中，与丈夫频繁沟通与较低的心理健康风险和抑郁以及增加的韧性相关。丈夫的返回间隔减少和汇款频率增加也与较低的 GHQ 评分相关。在多变量回归模型中，调整了潜在的混杂变量后，每天至少与丈夫沟通一次的参与者的 CD-RISC 平均得分较高（即对心理健康风险有较高的韧性），与每周至少沟通一次的参与者相比，平均差异为 3.6（95%CI 0.4 至 6.9），P=0.03。总之，移民工人的女性配偶的心理健康风险较低。
