Emotions Profile as Correlates to Coping Mechanism of Overseas Filipino Workers’ Children: Implications to Children of Migrant Filipino Workers

Abstract

With the recent numbers of overseas Filipino workers in the Philippines, it seems justifiable to do a survey regarding the children of migrant workers especially within the school setting to give OFWs idea about the characteristics of their children. This urged the researcher to conduct an action research on 2012 regarding the difficulties of the sons and daughters of OFWs in the said institution. The findings of the research reveal that there are three identified difficulties experienced by these children, those are in terms of emotional aspect, problems within the family and school and academics. Upon learning that the difficulties they experienced has to do with emotions, the researcher decided to explore more on this variable. Having the knowledge about the emotions profile of the children of overseas Filipino workers and how they cope when they are faced with challenges is important in the formulation of the appropriate and effective Guidance program for them. The objective of the study is to investigate the (1) emotions profile as well as the (2) five dominant emotions and coping mechanisms employed by left behind children; (3) the relationship between the two variables and its (4) implications to children of Filipino migrant workers. This study collected data from 199 children in a Catholic school aged 15-18 years old. Emotions Profile Index (EPI) was used to measure the respondents’ emotions, and Brief COPE version was used in determining their coping mechanism. Results show that the respondents scored high on Depressed (m=67.04) and Timid (m=63.2) which are also their dominant emotions, while they scored low on Dyscontrolled (35.74) and Gregarious (37.59). The five dominant coping mechanisms include Acceptance (m=6.53), Active Coping (m=6.43), Positive reframing (m=6.30), Planning (m=6.28), and Self-distraction (m=6.20). Findings also indicated that there is no relationship between the two dominant emotions and the five dominant mechanisms of the respondents. Based on the results, child respondents are prone to have serious psychological problems in the future such as difficulty in interpersonal relationships, fear in taking risks, and risk of having suicidal tendencies if not addressed. Though they show positive coping mechanism, the respondents perhaps were in denial in terms of their coping which may have contributed to the result that the dominant emotions and five dominant coping mechanisms have no significant relationship. Hence, it is important to create a program that promotes the well-being of these left-behind children and to strengthen their coping mechanism.