Exploring the psychological impacts, including coping and conflict resolution of transnationalism on parent-child relationships.

Introduction: The number of immigrants migrating to the United States has increased over the past thirty years. Many immigrants who migrate to the United States leave behind their family members including spouses and children, creating transnational families. Although there are some studies that have focused on the experiences of transnational families, there is a need for continued research to better understand the psychological impact of separation and reunification.[WU1] Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify if there has been any psychological impact due to the separation and reunification process experienced by transnational families, and to explore if there are any coping strategies that they employed to manage potential reactions to separation and reunification. Hypothesis: The researcher will explore the possible psychological impact of family separation, due to migration, on children who were separated from a parent. The researcher will also explore how families cope with family separation due to migratory reasons. Proposed Methods: This study will use a qualitative design to better understand the experiences of adolescents and their parents, who were separated due to parental migration to the United States from their native country. Participants will be recruited from two social services agencies in New Jersey. The participants will include six adolescents who are of Hispanic or Latino descent, speak Spanish or English, are between the ages of 12 to 19 years old, and arrived to the United States within the past five years, and one of their parents. The researcher will be using a semi-structured interview to interview the participants (questions will revolve around parent child relationship, separation experience, reunification experience, and methods of coping). The interview will take place virtually via Zoom. The researcher will interview the adolescent individually and then their parent. Proposed Analysis: The researcher will utilize the qualitative method of grounded theory to analyze the interviews. Implications: Although transnational families who migrate to the United States share the experience of migrating to the same country, not every migrant has the same experience with migration. A better understanding of this population’s various experiences can help guide clinicians towards improving client care and identifying best practices for this population