Abstract
This study aimed to validate an indirect effects model of parent–child cohesion in emotional adaptation (i.e., loneliness and depression) via basic psychological needs satisfaction in Chinese left-behind children as well as the applicability of the model to both genders. A cross-sectional study was conducted and included 1,250 children aged between 9 and 12 years (635 left-behind children and 615 non-left-behind children) from rural primary schools. The results showed that: (1) relative to non-left-behind children, left-behind children exhibited significantly higher loneliness and depression scores and greater disadvantages involving father–child cohesion, mother–child cohesion, and psychological needs satisfaction. (2) Father– and mother–child cohesion were significantly negatively correlated with loneliness and depression and significantly positively correlated with psychological needs satisfaction in left-behind children. (3) Through structural equation modeling showed that psychological needs satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between parent–child cohesion and emotional outcomes in left-behind children. (4) Through multi-group analyses showed significant gender differences in structural weighting between parent–child cohesion and emotional adaptation, in that parent–child cohesion in left-behind boys was a stronger negative predictor of unfavorable emotional outcomes relative to that observed in left-behind girls, while psychological needs satisfaction in left-behind girls was a stronger negative predictor of unfavorable emotional outcomes relative to that observed in left-behind boys. The implications of these findings for interventions directed at Chinese left-behind children were discussed.
Highlights
With the acceleration of urbanization and the development of a market economy over the past 30 years, China has undergone one of the largest rural-to-urban migrations in human history
The results showed that mother– and father–child cohesion were negatively correlated with loneliness and depression and positively correlated with autonomy, competence, and relatedness in left-behind children
Consistent with our hypotheses, the structural equation modeling indicated that parent–child cohesion exerted an indirect effect on emotional adaptation via basic psychological needs satisfaction in left-behind children, and this effect was moderated by gender
Summary
With the acceleration of urbanization and the development of a market economy over the past 30 years, China has undergone one of the largest rural-to-urban migrations in human history. Because of the urban-rural dual economic structure, many parents have been forced to move to urban areas to seek employment and leave their children with extended family members, Parent–Child Cohesion in Chinese Left-Behind Children creating a vulnerable group of “left-behind children.”. Tens of millions of left-behind children in rural areas have become part a unique disadvantaged group in a special historical period of China, living under the restrictions of urban “Hukou,” an official household residency permit system that grants access to social services including education, healthcare, and the right to buy homes. Left-behind children are generally younger than 17 years of age and remain at home in rural areas while one or both parents migrate to urban areas to work for at least 6 months (All-China Women’s Federation, 2013; Zhao et al, 2015). The phenomenon of left-behind children, as a disadvantaged group resulting from China’s economic and social transition, is expected to last for a considerable period
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