Untangling absence: left behind adolescents’ interpretive meaning construction of parental migration in Zimbabwe

The findings reveal that left-behind adolescents are not passive recipients of familial disruption but demonstrate active meaning-making efforts. These insights call for psychosocial interventions prioritizing adolescent agency and existential coping strategies. Policy and programming should focus on strengthening emotional support systems, improving digital connectivity with migrant parents, and integrating existential frameworks into adolescent well-being initiatives and child welfare policies.