A clinical psychiatrist is recommending that children whose parents migrate and leave them behind get grief counselling, similar to that offered to kids who have lost loved ones or whose families are going through separation or divorce.

Dr Audrey Pottinger, a consultant at the University of the West Indies (UWI) made the recommendation after presenting findings from a recent study which show that ‘barrel children’ were having a harder time coping without their parents, and often have suicidal thoughts.

Dr Audrey Pottinger, a consultant at the University of the West Indies (UWI) made the recommendation after presenting findings from a recent study which show that ‘barrel children’ were having a harder time coping

without their parents, and often have suicidal thoughts.

The study presented on Friday was conducted among 80 school children in Jamaica between the ages of nine and 13; and 60 school children in Trinidad ages 13 to 16.

It found that three in every 10 Jamaican households and one in 10 homes in Trinidad had children whose parents had migrated to North America or the United Kingdom, often in search of economic opportunities.

The children reported feelings of loneliness, anger, anxiety, fear of rejection, abandonment and sadness.

Labelling migration as the single strongest factor that contributes to the breakdown of the contemporary Caribbean family, Pottinger said the impact was more pervasive than other types of parental separation or loss.

“We need to be advocating that migration be considered a major loss, with great response similar to that of death and divorce. Therefore, social institutions such as schools and church communities need to be offering support services to these children, similar to what’s offered when a child has had a parent die or parents are divorced,” Pottinger said during her presentation at the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ) Symposium at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

“In a study that I did, I compared children who had parents divorced, died or migrated. We found that migratory loss seems to affect more areas of the child’s life compared to divorce and death,” she said.

Migration, she added, contributes to poor academic performance and delinquent behaviour. She also noted that studies have revealed that these children are at risk for sexual abuse and prostitution, particularly if they are in a surrogate arrangement or if their living arrangements are inadequate or inappropriate. The children also complained that the burden of taking on adult responsibilities, such as taking care of younger siblings or managing large sums of money, was robbing them of their childhood.

“We believe that migration contributes to the decline in academic performance nationally. The children seem to adopt the waiting to migrate mentality and therefore do not put much emphasis on school performance,” she said. “We also believe that it contributes to delinquent behaviour such as teenage pregnancy and drug use.”

The children were also affected by the constant shifting between guardians, especially in Jamaica. “The children who experienced child shifting also had significantly low self-esteem,” she said, adding that the children reported that they were losing trust in their parents because of broken promises.

The study also revealed that mental consequences emerged despite the fact that parents stayed in contact with their children. In fact, in Jamaica’s case study, 84 per cent of the children said they were in contact with their parents while they were abroad, and the same percentage said they received gifts. Additionally, 77 per cent said they were happy most of the time, while 32 per cent said they were happy about the migration.

On the other hand, 77 per cent of these children said they were concerned about who would take care of them once their parents left and 71 per cent had increased somatic illnesses (triggered by depression) after the migration. Forty-five per cent of them said they could not understand why their parents had to migrate, even though the reasons were explained to them, and 20 per cent said they were not informed about the migration – they just came home and were told that their parent left.

Meanwhile, Dr Pottinger said depression statistically differentiated in children whose parents migrated compared to those who did not.

“Depression was found significant in both the Trinidad and the Jamaican group,” she said. “In addition, in Jamaica the children were more at risk for suicidal ligation and poor school performance.”

However, Dr Pottinger said there were suggestive factors in both Jamaica and Trinidad which indicated that children who received support from their surrogate family tended to cope better with the migration. Additionally, children who did well in school and had someone to whom they could express their feelings, coped better.

Dr Pottinger said parents should make adequate preparations for their children before they leave them behind and engage in regular and meaningful communication with them while they are abroad.