Abstract
Background: Migration may impact the mental health of family members who remain in places of origin. We examined longitudinal associations between having an adult child migrant and mental health, for middle-aged and older Mexican adults accounting for complex time-varying confounding.
Methods: Mexican Health and Aging Study cohort (N = 11 806) respondents ≥50 years completed a 9-item past-week depressive symptoms scale; scores of ≥5 reflected elevated depressive symptoms. Expected risk differences (RD) for elevated depressive symptoms at each wave due to having at least one (versus no) adult child migrant in the US or in another Mexican city were estimated with longitudinal targeted maximum likelihood estimation.
Results: Women with at least one adult child in the US had a higher adjusted baseline prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms (RD: 0.063, 95% CI: 0.035, 0.091) compared to women with no adult children in the US. Men with at least one child in another Mexican city at all three study waves had a lower adjusted prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms at 11-year follow-up (RD: -0.042, 95% CI: -0.082, -0.003) compared to those with no internal migrant children over those waves. For men and women with ≤3 total children, adverse associations between having an adult child in the US and depressive symptoms persisted beyond baseline.
Conclusions: Associations between having an adult child migrant and depressive symptoms varied by respondent gender, family size, and the location of the child migrant. Trends in population aging and migration bring new urgency to examining associations with other outcomes and in other settings.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1432-1442 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Epidemiology |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 1 2018 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
Cite this
Longitudinal associations between having an adult child migrant and depressive symptoms among older adults in the Mexican Health and Aging Study. / Torres, Jacqueline M.; Rudolph, Kara; Sofrygin, Oleg; Glymour, M. Maria; Wong, Rebeca.
In: International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 47, No. 5, 01.10.2018, p. 1432-1442.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Longitudinal associations between having an adult child migrant and depressive symptoms among older adults in the Mexican Health and Aging Study
AU - Torres, Jacqueline M.
AU - Rudolph, Kara
AU - Sofrygin, Oleg
AU - Glymour, M. Maria
AU - Wong, Rebeca
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Background: Migration may impact the mental health of family members who remain in places of origin. We examined longitudinal associations between having an adult child migrant and mental health, for middle-aged and older Mexican adults accounting for complex time-varying confounding.Methods: Mexican Health and Aging Study cohort (N = 11 806) respondents ≥50 years completed a 9-item past-week depressive symptoms scale; scores of ≥5 reflected elevated depressive symptoms. Expected risk differences (RD) for elevated depressive symptoms at each wave due to having at least one (versus no) adult child migrant in the US or in another Mexican city were estimated with longitudinal targeted maximum likelihood estimation.Results: Women with at least one adult child in the US had a higher adjusted baseline prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms (RD: 0.063, 95% CI: 0.035, 0.091) compared to women with no adult children in the US. Men with at least one child in another Mexican city at all three study waves had a lower adjusted prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms at 11-year follow-up (RD: -0.042, 95% CI: -0.082, -0.003) compared to those with no internal migrant children over those waves. For men and women with ≤3 total children, adverse associations between having an adult child in the US and depressive symptoms persisted beyond baseline.Conclusions: Associations between having an adult child migrant and depressive symptoms varied by respondent gender, family size, and the location of the child migrant. Trends in population aging and migration bring new urgency to examining associations with other outcomes and in other settings.
AB - Background: Migration may impact the mental health of family members who remain in places of origin. We examined longitudinal associations between having an adult child migrant and mental health, for middle-aged and older Mexican adults accounting for complex time-varying confounding.Methods: Mexican Health and Aging Study cohort (N = 11 806) respondents ≥50 years completed a 9-item past-week depressive symptoms scale; scores of ≥5 reflected elevated depressive symptoms. Expected risk differences (RD) for elevated depressive symptoms at each wave due to having at least one (versus no) adult child migrant in the US or in another Mexican city were estimated with longitudinal targeted maximum likelihood estimation.Results: Women with at least one adult child in the US had a higher adjusted baseline prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms (RD: 0.063, 95% CI: 0.035, 0.091) compared to women with no adult children in the US. Men with at least one child in another Mexican city at all three study waves had a lower adjusted prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms at 11-year follow-up (RD: -0.042, 95% CI: -0.082, -0.003) compared to those with no internal migrant children over those waves. For men and women with ≤3 total children, adverse associations between having an adult child in the US and depressive symptoms persisted beyond baseline.Conclusions: Associations between having an adult child migrant and depressive symptoms varied by respondent gender, family size, and the location of the child migrant. Trends in population aging and migration bring new urgency to examining associations with other outcomes and in other settings.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055810798&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85055810798&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/ije/dyy112
DO - 10.1093/ije/dyy112
M3 - Article
C2 - 29982496
AN - SCOPUS:85055810798
VL - 47
SP - 1432
EP - 1442
JO - International Journal of Epidemiology
JF - International Journal of Epidemiology
SN - 0300-5771
IS - 5
ER -