Contribution of family and school factors to the health and wellbeing of cross-border, new immigrant and local students in Hong Kong

Abstract

• Nuanced differences in health and wellbeing exist across various student groups in HK. • New immigrant students report poorer wellbeing, while cross-border students are resilient. • Parent-child interaction associates with different outcomes for different students. • Relationship with father is especially important for new immigrant students. • Relationship with teachers and peers are influential for all three student groups. Cross-border students are a population born out of the unique geo-political context in Hong Kong. Given the complexity of their citizenship status, they reside in the border city of mainland China but attend school in Hong Kong, commuting between two cities daily. This special arrangement creates many challenges for their health and well-being. This study aimed to investigate the health and wellbeing of cross-border students as compared to new immigrant students (those born in mainland China but have resided in Hong Kong for less than seven years) and local students, and in relation to a range of family and school factors. Drawing upon data from a cross-sectional survey with 2,180 4th-9th grade students, the results of regression analyses suggested that residency status did matter for the health and wellbeing of students, as reflected by the nuanced differences in their self-rated health status, happiness and mental wellbeing. The study also identified a series of family and school factors which were positively associated with various outcome measures, and showed different strength of effects across the three groups of cross-border, new immigrant and local students. Implications of these research findings for service development and future research were also discussed.