TRANSNATIONAL FAMILY SUPPORT EXCHANGES: AN EXAMINATION OF STRESS AND HEALTH STATUS

摘要

Increasing longevity and rapid globalization have spawned the emergence of transnational families. Over the past forty years, aging research has repeatedly demonstrated that caring for an older person may affect the health and well-being of the provider. While providing support long-distance within a country is itself stressful, transnational support involves the additional challenges of distance, visa, travel expenses, cultural expectations, different circumstances, and different types of resources.The challenges of providing transnational support carry implications for the health and well-being of both the elderly parents and adult children residing in two different nations; however, migrants and their families are said to also experience care provision stress. Using data gathered from an online survey of 129 Asian Indian adults living in the USA who have an elderly mother living in India, a comparison between maternal health status and adult offspring health status as well as self-reported stress levels by the support provider was examined. The correlation between maternal health status and adult offspring was not statistically significant. However, findings show that marital stress was the highest ranked stressor, followed by guilt experiences, and time difference between the two nations. The risks to the physical and mental health of immigrants who provide transnational support to elders are varied and multifold. Results facilitate our understanding of how health care provision strategies are maintained, modified, and generated in transnational exchanges. Examining these transnational support experiences may help us generate policy to mitigate the health risks and stressors that these immigrant adults may face.