Between a rock and a hard place: Multisystem resilience and Honduran youth migration intentions

Abstract

More is known about how ‘push factors’ motivate emigration and how immigrants adapt to their new environment than about psychological factors associated with migration intentions for those experiencing adversity in their country of origin. This paper explores the association between multisystem resilience and migration intentions among youth in Honduras. In this context of high economic need and contextual violence, higher levels of resilience are associated with higher levels of migration intentions among those who have a job and thus the ability to navigate or negotiate access to resources – economic, social and psychological – that make it possible to consider migration. Among those who have not been victims of violence and consequently may not have that motivation to migrate, higher levels of resilience are associated with lower migration intentions.