Effects of Parental Migration on Adolescents' Self-esteem and Anxiety

Many children are raised by parents working abroad, and this parental migration can impact the mental health of left behind children. In the context of high migration rates in Romania, understanding the consequences of this growing phenomenonis crucial. Our study aimed to investigate how various factors related to parental migration impact the self-esteemand anxiety levels of high school adolescent susing a non-experimental comparative research design. We surveyed 227 adolescent senrolled in Romanian highschools, including adolescents with one or both parents working abroad and those with parents who are still residing at home. The adolescents` self-esteem was assessed using the Rosenberg scale (1965) and their anxiety level using the Hamilton scale (1959) through a 24-question questionnaire. The analysis revealed that adolescents withneit her parent working abroad reported higher self-esteem and lower anxiety levels compared to those with one or both migrant parents. Additionally, self-esteem and anxiety levels varied based on the relationships with the care givers left behind but not on their participation in counseling services. The sefindings suggest that tailore dcounselingand support programs in schools or social assistance institutions can help address the mental health needs of at-risky outh with migrant parents. Such programs can benefit students, parents, care givers and teachers, potentially mitigating the negative effects of parental migration. This social and psychological counseling programs should be designed and implemented to offer indiscriminate support to children of migrant parents, regardless of the children'sage, duration of parentdeparture, or thepresence of behavioral or emotionalsymptoms. These programs should be first preventive and then curative.


Keywords: parental migration, high school students; mental health, self-esteem, anxiety, counseling programs