Family Characteristics and Health: Select Populations

NIH RePORTER · NIH · K01 · $132,973 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY More than 25 million international migrants today, including 13 million children, have fled their country of origin because of conflict, generalized violence, a fear of persecution, or other severe disturbances to public order. The conditions under which these migrants in need of international protection (MNP) depart their country of origin—under duress and with little anticipation—and the conditions with which they experience life abroad— under a high degree of uncertainty, often for prolonged periods of time—may affect their incorporation, family dynamics, and health and wellbeing once abroad. Despite this possibility, little is known about the pathways by which displacement affects MNP health outcomes. Focusing on MNP in Costa Rica, a country that has experienced a six-fold increase in the number of asylum-seekers over the last five years and that boasts a well-established program for receiving and integrating MNP, the proposed study will provide one of the first investigations into how the events precipitating displacement and the incorporative experiences following it shape MNP family life, and in turn, women and children's wellbeing. The specific aims of this study are that the PI will (1) gain extensive training on international survey data collection, migration, and human development; which will allow her to (2) adapt existing survey methods to collect high-quality panel data among MNP; and to (3) assess how pre- and post-flight experiences shape MNP family dynamics, and in turn, women and children's wellbeing. To achieve these aims, this award will equip Dr. Abigail Weitzman, a sociologist and family demographer at the University of Texas at Austin, with training and mentorship that extend her areas of expertise into three new domains: international survey data collection, migration studies, and developmental science. Combined with her current expertise in quantitative data analysis, family violence, and reproductive health, the proficiencies and research experiences she gains through this award will allow her to expand her interdisciplinary areas of expertise to produce a program of innovative, high-impact research on the determinants of MNP health and wellbeing. Results will provide new insights into the forces shaping family life following displacement and the familial pathways by which pre- and post-flight experiences affect the wellbeing of internationally displaced MNP women and children in the Americas. Training and insights gleaned from this project will lead to the development of a large-scale R01 study extending this line of research and will further aid in the development of policies that promote family cohesion, stability, and the health and wellbeing of internationally displaced migrant populations.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10251863
Project number
5K01HD099313-03
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Principal Investigator
Abigail Mae Weitzman
Activity code
K01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$132,973
Award type
5
Project period
2019-09-15 → 2024-08-31