Family planning and child mental health in China: the Nanjing Survey

Abstract

The authors studied the impact of China's one-child-per-couple family planning policy on child development in 697 preschool children in the city of Nanjing and in two rural areas surrounding Nanjing. A home-visit questionnaire survey including a Chinese version of Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist was used. The behavior problem profiles of children who were their parents' only children and those who had siblings were compared, revealing a significant difference between girls who were only children and those who had siblings. Girls who were only children tended to have slightly higher scores on the factors of depression, moody, and temper.