NIMHANS study finds loneliness linked to psychological distress, excessive series watching among parents of emigrated children

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Loneliness among parents whose adult children have migrated abroad is associated with higher psychological distress, difficulties in regulating emotions and problematic series watching, an exploratory study by researchers from NIMHANS has found.

The findings assume relevance on World Mental Health Day, observed on October 10, which draws attention to mental health and the need to address psychological well-being. The study highlights the emotional challenges that parents may experience when their children settle abroad and everyday family interactions become less frequent.

Published in BMC Research Notes , the study examined 64 ‘empty-nest’ parents aged between 45 and 65, whose adult children had emigrated and lived away from home for at least two years. The sample comprised 30 fathers and 34 mothers from different families in Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab. Most belonged to middle socioeconomic backgrounds and nuclear families, and more than half had been in the empty-nest phase for over five years.

Rajesh Kumar, associate professor in the department of clinical psychology at NIMHANS and the corresponding author of the study, said the findings highlighted the relationship between loneliness and emotional well-being among parents adjusting to life without their children at home.

“We found a significant association between loneliness and psychological distress. Loneliness was also associated with difficulties in emotion regulation and problematic series watching, which refers to excessive or difficult-to-control viewing that interferes with everyday functioning. This also resulted in the risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” he said.

Loneliness significantly predicted psychological distress even after accounting for age and gender. Of the 64 participants, 22 (34.3%) were classified as having higher levels of loneliness, while 42 (65.7%) fell into the lower-loneliness group. Those reporting higher loneliness also reported greater psychological distress, more difficulties in regulating emotions and higher levels of problematic series watching, Mr. Kumar said.

Manoj Kumar Sharma, professor in the department of clinical psychology at NIMHANS and head of its SHUT Clinic, said the findings needed to be understood in the context of the emotional and social changes that parents may experience when their children settle abroad.

Dr. Sharma, who is one of the authors, cautioned that the study did not establish that loneliness causes psychological distress or excessive series watching.