Published: Psychological Reports: Mental & Physical Health. 2015, 116, 2, 485-512. © Psychological Reports 2015 ANXIETY IN CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND / R. TOMȘA & C. JENARO CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND IN ROMANIA: ANXIETY AND PREDICTOR VARIABLES 1 R. TOMȘA Department of Psychology, University of Bucharest, Romania C. JENARO Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos Universidad de Salamanca, Spain Summary.—Children left behind while their parents immigrate or travel for employment are becoming a widespread phenomenon for economic reasons, creating potentially stressful and inadequate developmental support for a substantial portion of some countries’ working class populations. This study assessed the emotional status and coping skills of two matched samples of 163 Romanian children left behind and 163 comparable children living with their parents. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, the Anger Expression Scale for Children, the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, and the Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist were utilized. Higher anxiety and depression were observed in left-behind children compared to the control group living with parents. Hierarchical multiple regression supported the relevance of coping strategies, controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, to help explain anxiety in left-behind children. Strategies to promote psychological health and general well being are discussed. After the fall of communism, migration in Romania started to be a widespread phenomenon that continues today (CNPD, 2006; Gheţău, 2007). “Children left behind” refers to minors who are left in their home country while one or both of their parents emigrate for work for at least 6 months (Valtolina & Colombo, 2012). In 2007, more than 82,000 children were left behind in Romania; more than 26,000 had both parents abroad, more than 47,000 had one of their parents abroad, and almost 2,500 children were left under the social protection system (ANPDC, 2007; Tomșa, 2011). Graham and Jordan (2011) noted that an increasing proportion of migrant parents are leaving their children behind to take up “temporary” employment. This migration creates a transnational family where children are geographically separated from one or both parents for an extended time. In these cases, the extended family has a key role in providing affection, supervision, and in “filling the void” left by their parents (Valtolina & Colombo, 2012). With migration becoming an increasingly worldwide phenomenon, there is an urgent need for better understanding of the effects of family separation on the health and well-being of children left behind. 1 Address correspondence to Raluca Tomșa, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Bucharest, Panduri 90, Bucharest, Romania or e-mail (raluca.tomsa@fpse.unibuc.ro ). DOI 10.2466/10.17.PR0.116k19w1 ISSN 0033-2941