An exploratory narrative study of the migration patterns, parent-child relationships, and the adaptation of immigrant Central American and Mexican adolescents

This qualitative narrative study examined the ways that family separation and reunification affect parents and their children during the process of immigration. The experiences of 26 immigrant Central American and Mexican youths were explored through in-depth interviews. Each of the youth interviewed experienced a period of separation from his or her parents due to his or her parents immigrating first and later reuniting with the youth, or because the youth migrated alone and planned to reunite with his or her parent(s) when returning to the country of origin. Specifically, this study aimed to explore and describe youths' accounts regarding how these immigration-related experiences affected their relationships with parents. Participants were immigrant adolescents, ages 14-20 years residing in the US between 3 months to 7 years. Findings revealed that serial migration, serial reconstituted family migration, and unaccompanied minor, parachute and return migration were the immigration strategies employed by families in this sample. Adolescents responded in a various ways to separation from and reunification with their parents. For some adolescents surrogate caregivers played an important role in normalizing their separation from their parents. The most difficult time for these adolescents surfaced at reunification, when they had to begin to live with their un-familiar parent again. Adolescents experienced a decrease in feelings of closeness with their parents and strained relations. Parent-child categories and descriptors of how adolescents perceived their relationship with their parent during separation and reunification are discussed. In contrast to the literature, the findings in this study underscore that only some adolescents who separated from their parents through immigration reported negative consequences associated with the separation.