Chinese migrant children’s constructions of transnational childhood in Norway

Research has revealed that perceived discrimination may be a risk factor against school adjustment among Chinese migrant children. However, few studies have examined the underlying mechanisms that may mediate or moderate this association. To fill this gap, this study examined the mediating role of identity conflict and moderating role of grit in the association between perceived discrimination and school adjustment. A sample of 732 Chinese migrant children completed measures of perceived discrimination, school adjustment, identity conflict, and grit. Results showed that identity conflict mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and school adjustment among Chinese migrant children. Moreover, this mediating effect of identity conflict between perceived discrimination and school adjustment was moderated by grit, with the effect being weaker for Chinese migrant children with higher grit. These findings illuminate the underlying influence of identity conflict and grit in the link between perceived discrimination and school adjustment of Chinese migrant children. Limitations and implications of this study were discussed.

Between Two Worlds: Chinese Immigrant Children and the Production of Knowledge in the Era of Chinese Exclusion

Parental reports of stress and anxiety in their migrant children in China: The mediating role of parental psychological aggression and corporal punishment

Migration-related stress is detrimental to children's mental health, yet little is known about the potential mechanisms behind this association. This study examines the mediating role of inflow city identity in the association between migration-related stress and depression and the moderating role of social participation amongst Chinese migrant children. A sample of 484 migrant children aged 8-17 years is randomly recruited through a cross-sectional survey in Kunming, China. Inflow city identity partially mediates the association between migration-related stress and migrant children's depression. Moreover, social participation moderates the above relationship. The direct and indirect effects are significant for migrant children with low social participation but insignificant for migrant children with high social participation. This study deepens the theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanism between migration stress and psychological distress and provides practical implications for preventing mental disorders in Chinese migrant children.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of perceived discrimination on children's depression and behavioral problems via the mediator of integration among Chinese migrant children. Rural-urban differences in the proposed relationships are also examined. The sample included 484 migrant children (Mean age=11.65years; 52.9% girls), which was collected through multi-stage cluster random sampling in Kunming, Southwest China. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was adopted for data analysis. Results indicate that perceived discrimination reduces the integration of Chinese migrant children, which in turn, leads to their higher levels of depression and more behavioral problems. The multi-group analysis on rural-urban differences reveals that the effects of discrimination on depression and behavioral problems are significant among rural-urban migrants but not among urban-urban ones. This study contributes to current knowledge by revealing the mechanisms among perceived discrimination, integration, depression and behavioral problems of Chinese migrant children. The migration pattern differences in terms of their depression and behavioral problems are also highlighted.

This study explored the mediating role of resilience and the moderating role of social class on the relationship between loneliness and migrant children’s city identity. The participants were 479 Chinese migrant children (females = 52%, mean age = 10.07 years, SD = 0.43 years) from Jiangsu Province. They completed a series of questionnaires, including the Children’s Loneliness Scale, the Resilience Scale, the Migrant Children’s City Identity Questionnaire and the Socioeconomic Status Index. Results from the moderated mediation analysis showed that Chinese migrant children self-reporting higher loneliness had a lower city identity. Resilience mediates the relationship between loneliness and city identity. Social class negatively moderates the influence of resilience on city identity. Compared to those with higher social class, migrant children with lower social class were more resilient in constructing their city identity. These findings might be helpful to social welfare programmes to support immigrant children in their city identity for better integration and adaptation.

The current study aimed to examine whether migrant children ’ s relationship quality with mentors could make unique contributions in predicting their mental health and career effi cacy, above and beyond the prediction from their relationship quality with parents. Based on social cognitive theory, it was also proposed that migrant children ’ s self-effi cacy beliefs may mediate the positive effects of mentoring relationship quality on career effi cacy and mental health. A survey study was conducted among Chinese migrant children (n = 114) who joined a mentorship program in Beijing, China. The results showed that after controlling for the effects of parent relationship quality, mentoring relationship quality made a unique contribution in predicting migrant children ’ s career effi cacy and mental health. In addition, path analysis revealed that the positive effects of mentoring relationship quality were fully mediated by children ’ s self-effi cacy beliefs. These results revealed the importance of a mentor- mentee relationship in migrant children ’ personal growth and provided preliminary evidence on the mechanisms underlying this process.

Migrant children have greatly increased in number due to the China’s urbanization and migrant children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms are at high risk of conduct problems. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between parental depression and conduct problems among Chinese migrant children with ODD symptoms, and to investigate whether parent-child closeness and parent-child conflict mediated and child emotion regulation moderated the linkage. Totally, 370 parents of migrant children who met the DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of ODD symptoms from 10 elementary schools participated in the study. Their class master teachers were included as well. Results revealed that parental depression was positively associated with conduct problems of migrant children with ODD symptoms. Both parent-child closeness and conflict partially mediated the link between parental depression and child conduct problems, while the mediating role of parent-child conflict was stronger. Child emotion regulation moderated the association between parental depression and parent-child closeness. Specifically, for children with low level, but not high, of emotion regulation, parental depression was negatively related to parent-child closeness. The study applied existing emotional security theory into migrant children with ODD symptoms and suggested that interventions may effectively reduce conduct problems in migrant children with ODD symptoms by targeting parental depression, parent-child closeness as well as conflict, and child emotion regulation.

BackgroundStudies have shown that relative deprivation is a risk factor for depressive symptoms, but the underlying mechanisms are not yet clarified. Thus, this study formulated a moderated mediation model to investigate the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of belief in a just world between relative deprivation and depressive symptoms among rural-to-urban migrant children.MethodsA sample of 1,076 Chinese migrant children (Mage = 12.25 years, SD = 1.66) completed measurements of relative deprivation, self-esteem, belief in a just world, and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the mediating mechanism and moderating effect of the study were explored with the SPSS PROCESS macro (Models 4 and 7).ResultsThe results showed a significant positive association between relative deprivation and depressive symptoms, with self-esteem partially mediating this association. Moreover, belief in a just world moderated the association between relative deprivation and self-esteem. Namely, the indirect effect of self-esteem was moderated by belief in a just world. Specifically, the mediating effect was stronger for migrant children with higher levels of belief in a just world.ConclusionThese findings broaden our knowledge of how and when relative deprivation influences depressive symptoms among migrant children. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken to prevent and manage migrant children' depression and provide them with corresponding guidance. Some measures could be taken by schools and educators to help migrant children with high relative deprivation in improving their self-esteem and belief in a just world, such as self-reference tasks and psychological intervention programs.

This study was aimed to figure out whether perceived stress mediates the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress among Chinese migrant children and whether social support and engagement coping moderate the detrimental effects of perceived discrimination on psychological distress. The sample comprised 813 middle-school students (482 migrant children, 331 non-migrant children) from three schools in Southwest China. The results indicate that migrant children’s perceived discrimination and perceived stress are associated with psychological distress, and perceived stress does not mediate the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress. Both social support and engagement coping are inversely related to psychological distress and compensate the deleterious influences of perceived discrimination and stress on psychological distress. These findings highlight the need to consider providing social support and cultivating engagement coping when designing mental health interventions to reduce the negative influence of perceived discrimination on Chinese migrant children’s mental health.

BackgroundAlthough poor health conditions and decreased developmental levels have been investigated in migrant children, no study in China has focused on these children’s individual motor development.ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the prevalence of motor impairment in Chinese migrant children and to determine the contributory factors.Patients and MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a structured questionnaire was administered to primary caregivers of preschool children aged 3 - 6 (n = 2,976) in ten kindergartens from two districts of Suzhou, China, to assess the children’s home socioeconomic status and motor environment, that is, the presence of affordances for motor development. Motor ability was assessed using the Movement Assessment battery for children-second edition (MABC-2). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors for motor impairment in migrant children.ResultsMigrant children showed correlations with impairment in manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and motor development (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.320, 1.255, 1.260, respectively; P < 0.05). Outdoor movement affordances and toys for fine motor development were significantly associated with motor impairment in migrant children (ORs = 0.834 [movement affordances, 0.843 [toys], P < 0.05).ConclusionsChinese migrant children are at a high risk of motor impairment, which is associated with a lack of outdoor movement affordances and toys for fine motor development. Future prevention and intervention should focus on the motor environment of the home.

BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become a worldwide health concern, especially for the disadvantaged group such as Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children. Peer victimization is a risk factor for NSSI and is quite common among Chinese migrant children. However, few studies that focused on this group have paid attention to the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI. The current study addressed this gap in the literature by examining the mediating role of depressive symptoms and the moderating role of stressful life events in the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI in male and female migrant children.MethodsA total of 650 migrant children completed self-report surveys that addressed peer victimization, NSSI, depressive symptoms, and stressful life events.ResultsResults showed that peer victimization was significantly related to NSSI for both migrant girls and boys. Depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI among girls, but not among boys. Additionally, stressful life events significantly moderated the relationships between depressive symptoms and NSSI and between peer victimization and NSSI among girls; higher levels of depressive symptoms or peer victimization coupled with more stressful life events related to a higher probability of NSSI. For boys, stressful life events moderated the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI; higher levels of peer victimization combined with increased NSSI behaviors among the boys who reported more stressful life events.ConclusionsThese findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms that inform the relationship between peer victimization and NSSI. Moreover, they indicate that future interventions can be enhanced by targeting depressive symptoms among girls and stressful life events among both girls and boys.

The barrier for Chinese migrant children to receive compulsory education in megacities has been gradually solved in recent years. The demand for senior high school education is now the bottom line for most of migrant children. Unlike compulsory education, high school education in China is a prerequisite for students to enter university and can profoundly affect their future decisions. This study aims to identify how various dimensions of economic, cultural and social capital embedded in the family, school and peer contexts influence the educational expectation of Chinese migrant children. The study results showed that all dimensions of capital significantly influenced the educational expectation of migrant children except family social capital. The effect of objectified cultural capital appeared to be the most predominant factor. Surprisingly, against the original hypothesis, economic capital and embodied cultural capital negatively influenced educational expectations.

The present study examined the moderating effect of children's resilience on the relations between unsociability and social adjustment (i.e., prosocial behaviors, peer exclusion, interpersonal skills, internalizing problems) in Chinese preschool migrant children. Participants were N = 148 children (82 boys, M age = 62.32 months, SD = 6.76) attending two public kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers provided ratings of children's unsociability and resilience; teachers assessed children's social adjustment outcomes, and children reported their receptive vocabulary. Unsociability was positively associated with peer exclusion and internalizing problems, and negatively associated with prosocial behaviors and interpersonal skills among Chinese preschool migrant children. Moreover, children's resilience significantly moderated the relationship between unsociability and social adjustment. Specifically, among children with lower levels of resilience, unsociability was significantly and positively associated with peer exclusion and internalizing problems, while among children with higher levels of resilience, unsociability was not associated with social adjustment difficulties. The current findings inform us of the importance of improving children's resilience to buffer the negative adjustment among Chinese migrant unsociable young children. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of unsociability for preschool migrant children in Chinese culture.

The educational development level of migrant children is affected by many factors, and it is practical to study it. Based on the current situation of migrant children study in China, this study explored the multiple mediating effects of educational support and moderating effect of the age on the level of educational development by policy environment. The study sample was composed of 541 Chinese migrant adolescents aged 9 to 17. They completed educational development questionnaire, educational support questionnaire and policy environment questionnaire. Mediating and moderating effects analysis were used to examine the role of educational support between policy environment and educational development. The results show that the educational development level of Chinese migrant children was relatively high. However, there were significant differences among different schools and ages. It was found that school management played most important role in the educational development of migrant children. Also, it was found that assistance support played a partial mediating role between school management and academic condition, and affective support played a partial mediating role between school management and social behavior, and age played a moderating role between school management and social behavior. School management for Chinese migrant children should be further strengthened. Assistance support and affective support for Chinese migrant children should be further improved. In addition, the management of migrant children aged from 14 to 17 should be the focus of attention. In this study, some suggestions are put forward to improve these influence factors of education development for Chinese migrant children.