Spatial and emotional distances in parent-child relationships: Impacts on human capital development in rural Chinese boarding children

Abstract

BackgroundThe policy of merging remote rural elementary schools into centralized villages has led to the emergence of boarding schools as an essential means of providing compulsory education in rural areas of China. As boarding children reside in schools for extended periods, parents' influence on their human capital development is inevitably specificity. The development of rural boarding children is a serious social issue in China, and parent–child distance plays a crucial role in affecting the development of children's human capital. ObjectiveWhile previous studies have focused on the relationship between parental absence and the development of human capital in rural boarding children, this study examines the effects of both spatial and emotional distance between parents and children on the human capital of rural boarding children. Participants and settingA stratified, multi-stage probabilities proportional to size (PPS) sampling method was used, and self-report questionnaires were completed by 2397 rural boarding children (54.2 % males; ages 12 to 18, M = 14.66, SD = 1.30). MethodsChildren's background, family, and school and teacher characteristics were used as control variables. An OLS regression model was used to assess the effects of parent–child spatial and emotional distance on the human capital of rural boarding children, and a CMP–OLS regression model was used to address endogeneity using parents' self-assessed family economic conditions as instrumental variables. ResultsParent–child spatial distance had a significant positive effect (p < 0.05, p < 0.05), and emotional distance had a significant negative effect (p < 0.05, p < 0.01) on the cognitive and non-cognitive abilities development of rural boarding children. Living with grandparents heightened the negative effect on non-cognitive abilities development. ConclusionsThe findings of this study strengthen the link between parent–child distance and rural boarding children and the moderating impact of living with grandparents on the effect of parent–child distance on rural boarding children's human capital providing new insights for promoting the development of rural boarding children. It also highlights the detrimental effects of emotional neglect on rural boarding children's development. This is important for realizing China's rural revitalization strategy and the healthy development of disadvantaged children in rural areas.