Social exclusion, sense of school belonging and mental health of migrant children in China: A structural equation modeling analysis

Abstract

In recent years, the number of migrant children has continued to increase in China. This study aims to investigate how social exclusion and sense of school belonging influenced the mental health of Chinese migrant children. Data were from the 2013–2014 wave of the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), a school-based national multistage probability sample of Chinese junior high school students. 1898 children who had experienced migration were selected as research sample. Structural equation model was adopted to test the hypothetical framework. The results suggested that social exclusion was not significantly associated with children's mental health, whereas a high sense of school belonging was related to their enhanced mental health outcomes. The sense of school belonging fully mediated the effect of social exclusion on migrant children's mental health. Our study validated the applicability of rejection–identification model, social identity theory, and cognitive–experiential self-theory in Chinese context. This study also provided implications for the social work intervention and social policy focused on migrant children in China.