Problem:
"While expatriate employment offers important economic opportunities, it is frequently associated with marital strain and psychosocial challenges for partners who remain behind (Nguyen et al., 2025; Zheng & Yan, 2025). These challenges are particularly relevant to the Caribbean, where high rates of emigration and labor-related family separation are common, especially in Jamaica (Jaupart, 2023). Research conducted in Jamaica indicates that husbands whose wives migrated reported significantly higher levels of physical illness symptoms compared to men whose partners remained in the country (p < 0.05) (Nwankwo & Govia, 2022), suggesting that migration-related separation may contribute to embodied health burdens among left-behind spouses. Beyond physical health, growing evidence demonstrates that spousal separation is associated with adverse mental health outcomes. For example, a population-based study in China found that left-behind spouses reported significantly higher depression scores than those living in intact families, with 35.7% of rural left-behind women in northwestern China experiencing depressive symptoms (Niu & Wang, 2024). Importantly, longitudinal research indicates that these psychological effects may persist beyond periods of separation, as depressive symptoms do not significantly decline following family reunification (Zheng & Yan, 2025). Prolonged spousal separation has also been linked to relational strain, including reduced marital satisfaction among geographically separated couples (Tashkeh et al., 2024; Sadia et al., 2025)." Add one sentence to the above content specifying what the literature has not examined (e.g., appraisal/agency as the mechanism linking separation to distress and relationship functioning) to sharpen the contribution. Provide recent peer reviewed references between 2021-2025 and include as citation in the sentence. Need Assignment Help?