Migration Experiences and Women's Perceived Impact of Migration on Their Community in Lima, Perú: Associations with Violence and Mental Health

To support resilience in contexts of migration, a deeper understanding of the experiences of both receiving communities and migrants is required. Limited research has investigated migration and the perceived impact of migration on communities in contexts with high numbers of community members who have migrated within their country of origin (here, internal migration). The present study uses qualitative and quantitative data drawn from a sample of pregnant women (N=251), 87 of whom reported being internal migrants and 164 of whom reported being from the locale of the study (i.e., Canto Grande district in Lima, Perú). The study had three goals. First, the study aimed to better understand women’s internal migration experiences and non-migrant and internal migrant women’s views of the impact of migration on their community using two qualitative analytic methods (i.e., thematic analysis and a Natural Language Processing (NLP) tool, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count [LIWC] software). Second, the study explored differences between the migrant and non-migrant groups in mental health, intimate partner violence, adverse childhood experiences, and sentiments toward migration. Third, associations between migration attitudes, adversity (i.e., adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence), and mental health (i.e., depression and PTSD) were evaluated. Both qualitative analyses of community data highlighted that there is a more positive perception of internal than of international migration in this context. The thematic analysis of migration experiences revealed trends in challenges, motivations, and adjustments for women who migrated to Lima, some of which (crime, nature differences, enjoyment, and being forced to migrate) significantly predicted mental health outcomes. Adversity and migration history were important predictors of both depression and PTSD severity. Overall, we found that women who migrated had better mental health (i.e. significantly lower levels of depression and PTSD symptoms) compared to non-migrants, although there were no significant differences in experiences of adversity. These findings indicate that there may be protective factors associated with internal migration, which could inform future mental health interventions and research.

Keywords: emigration, pregnancy, intimate partner violence, adverse childhood experiences, community, thematic analysis, mixed methods