When OFW parents are not around: Health conditions of adolescents left behind and associated factors

• Main Author: Arcinas, Myla M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/419
• Institution: De La Salle University

Using a descriptive-quantitative research design, this study aimed to examine the health conditions of adolescents left behind (ages 13-17) by OFW-parents, and to define how their health is the outcome of their personal and lifestyle characteristics and their use of protective mechanisms. A total of 400 adolescents left behind by OFW-parents were selected via multi-stage area sampling and were surveyed by using a guided group self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multivariate ordinal logistic regression were performed to analyze the data. Findings show that adolescents left behind by OFW parents rated themselves to have a fair or moderately healthy lifestyle and perceived themselves to have a strong protective mechanisms to manage their situation as a child of an OFW. Results also show that they perceived themselves to have a healthy or good overall health condition. On the health domains, they rated their physical and psychological health conditions as very healthy, their emotional condition as good or healthy, and their social and spiritual health conditions as moderately healthy. This study also found significant association of their overall health condition with their personal characteristics, lifestyle pattern, and with their use of protective mechanisms. Univariate analyses of their overall health condition show that 6 out of the 20 independent variables were significant, and that sex is the strongest predictor of their overall health condition with the female respondents having more likely to see their health condition as good or healthy most of the time compared to male respondents. On the health domains, good personal hygiene practices predicts their physical health condition, that is those with good personal hygiene practices are more likely to be physically healthy. The sex of the main care provider predicts their psychological health condition, that is those with female care provider are less psychologically healthy compared to those with male care provider. Their emotional health is predicted the most by their personal interests, that is those who engage in unhealthy lifestyle are less likely to be emotionally healthy. Their social health is predicted the strongest by their pattern of communication with the parent-away, that is those who do not have an open and regular pattern of communication with the parent away are less likely to be socially healthy compared to those who have an open and regular communication with the parent away. Lastly, their spiritual health condition is predicted the strongest by the absence of the mother, that is those with mother working as OFW tends to lacking on their spiritual health compared to those who have the mother staying and only the father works as OFW. Findings hope to help develop appropriate program/s of action that will strengthen the OFW family system.