Does moving repeatedly in childhood cause poor quality of mental health later in life?
Moving repeatedly here refers to frequent migration within the same nation from one city to another. This can impact an individual's mental health, that is, affect their emotional stability, sociability, resilience, interpersonal capabilities within the same nation from one city to another sensitivity, and so on.
The researchers found that the more times people moved as children, the more likely they were to report lower life satisfaction and psychological well-being at the time they were surveyed, even when controlling for age, gender, and education level. The research also showed that those who moved frequently as children had fewer social relationships as adults.
(Shigehiro Oishi, 2010) prior work found that residential mobility in childhood was associated with an increased risk of developing a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including behavior-related disorders (e.g., suicidal behavior) and antisocial personality disorder, on reaching maturity (Jelleyman and Spencer, 2008; Green et al., 2010; Kessler et al., 2010; Brown et al., 2012; Boynton-Jarrett et al., 2013; Mok et al., 2016; Tseliou et al., 2016).
Based on the attachment theory, residential mobility, which disrupts peer relationships in childhood, is likely to link to interpersonal insecurity at later developmental stages (Bucci et al., 2015; Widom et al., 2018), which is a significant predictor of poor mental health In general, frequent moving induces a series of stressors (e.g., family stress and household chaos), which can cumulate to bring detrimental impacts on mental health.
Moving leads to the destruction of one’s established social networks, which is a strong determinant of poor mental health (Greenblatt et al., 1982; Kawachi and Berkman, 2001). Therefore, changes in social relationships associated with residential mobility may be more detrimental to mental health in the developmental stage, that is late childhood and adolescence where the developmental task is highly related to social relationships. Mental health quality can be measured by administering the Symptom Checklist 90 scale (Derogatis et al., 1973) to the participants, which includes 10 dimensions (somatization, anxiety, crying spells, etc.)
To scrutinize the research findings from the perspective of people in our surroundings who experienced the same, a qualitative interview was conducted with a 20-year-old coming from an army background. Being from an army background, moving around repeatedly has become a norm for her. However, she faced several problems like anxiety and depression during her adolescence due to the stress of migration and having to adjust to the new environment.
Earlier she dealt with my feelings by telling her parents about them or suppressing them. She did not acknowledge the need to reach out for help and let things be as they were. Reviewing this through my research question I have understood this was a maladaptive way to solve the problem.
With several scientific theories backing up my hypothesis that moving around repeatedly during developmental periods does lead to poor quality of mental health later in life, I have come across different ways to deal with the stress of moving healthily.
Instead of suppressing our emotions, it is necessary to accept that something is wrong and confront the issue. Talking to friends and family about my feelings, reaching out for help, and not letting the stigmas surrounding mental health problems affect me are some of the adaptive ways I would use and recommend others to solve the problem now.
In conclusion, various scientific theories have indicated that frequent migration during childhood leads to poor quality of mental health later in life. Resilience, sociability, and taking help if needed are key ways to combat this issue.
References:
Li, M., Li, W.-Q., & Li, L. M. W. (2019). Sensitive periods of moving on mental health and academic performance among university students. Frontiers in psychology.
American Psychological Association. (2010). Moving repeatedly in childhood associated with poorer quality of life years later . American Psychological Association
Comentários