Controllable negative life events, family cohesion, and externalizing problems among rural and migrant children in China: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

This study explored whether family cohesion (FC) mediated the relationship between controllable negative life events (NLEs) and externalizing problems and tested whether this indirect effect differed in migrant and rural children in China. A series of moderated mediation models were used to analyze two-wave data on the parent–child dyads during middle adolescence. FC partially mediated the association between controllable events and externalizing problems, even after controlling for uncontrollable NLEs and other covariates. This study indicated that migrant status moderated this indirect link. In particular, the mediation effect was observed in migrant children but not rural children. Moreover, the stress-attenuating hypothesis based on the reserve capacity model was not supported in migrant children. To reduce Chinese adolescents’ externalizing problems, results suggest that interventions should target migrant groups who are vulnerable to specific stress and then provide them with courses that promote family relations and help reappraise the meaning of stress.