A new study has found that children who have to translate for their non-English speaking parents often face mental health struggles, but there are ways to combat it. Immigrant families are facing a lot of struggles when they come to a different country, and one of the biggest ones can be living with a language barrier. This can be one of the hardest hurdles that they have to face, but parents who have children born in the US, or who spent a lot of their childhood here, are likely English speaking, and this means that they can act as a translator for their parents.

According to PsyPost, a study was done that showed that children who spend a lot of time acting as translators for their parents can often face mental health struggles, and it can include feeling burdened. The study was published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and it can be read in full here.

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The study found that children in these situations can typically feel like the roles are reversed. Kids are placed in a parenting role and have to make sure to “care” for their parents. To ensure that they have what they need and that they can get by in a society where they don’t speak the language.

However, the study also found that empathy can help to mitigate some of these negative effects. It can help reduce the feeling of burden, role reversal, and even depressive symptoms in children. This is a common situation facing immigrant families, and children are even seen acting as a translator in parent-teacher interviews at their schools. Studies like this could provide useful for advocating for easier access to English lessons for immigrant parents, as it would help ease the burden on children if the parents were able to learn the language and had the support that they needed.

Frequently translating for non-English speaking parents can take a toll on mental health — but empathy may buffer this effect https://t.co/Mkv7xoKlxM pic.twitter.com/ThpAZd3C6T

— Sergey Mozhzhukhin (@ca_sbm) January 12, 2022

These lessons and interventions would benefit the entire family, as these situations can also increase the odds of more family conflict, and a close family support system is essential for immigrant families who may be in a new country, where they only have each other and support. It can also improve the relationship between parent and child, and make sure the child’s mental health is protected. Those children who had a higher sense of empathy, were more able to feel better about their role and that they were truly helping, and this seemed to make a huge difference in the mental health and wellbeing of the child.

Sources: PsyPost, SAGE Pub Journals