Association between Spouse/Child Separation and Migration-Related Stress among a Random Sample of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in Wuhan, China

Yan Guo, Xinguang Chen, Jie Gong, Fang Li, Chaoyang Zhu, Yaqiong Yan and Liang Wang

PLOS ONE, 2016, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Millions of people move from rural areas to urban areas in China to pursue new opportunities while leaving their spouses and children at rural homes. Little is known about the impact of migration-related separation on mental health of these rural migrants in urban China. Methods: Survey data from a random sample of rural-to-urban migrants (n = 1113, aged 18–45) from Wuhan were analyzed. The Domestic Migration Stress Questionnaire (DMSQ), an instrument with four subconstructs, was used to measure migration-related stress. The relationship between spouse/child separation and stress was assessed using survey estimation methods to account for the multi-level sampling design. Results: 16.46% of couples were separated from their spouses (spouse-separation only), 25.81% of parents were separated from their children (child separation only). Among the participants who married and had children, 5.97% were separated from both their spouses and children (double separation). Spouse-separation only and double separation did not scored significantly higher on DMSQ than those with no separation. Compared to parents without child separation, parents with child separation scored significantly higher on DMSQ (mean score = 2.88, 95% CI: [2.81, 2.95] vs. 2.60 [2.53, 2.67], p

Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0154252

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154252

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