Abstract
BackgroundIn China, adolescents are frequently left behind by their parents. A great deal of scientific evidence demonstrates considerable psychological and social impacts that negative life events may have on adolescents who are left behind. While a direct relationship between negative life events and psychological and social effects has been observed, indirect effects have yet to be examined. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the association between negative life events and positive social adjustment and how resilience and self-esteem mediate this association.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in the provinces of Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan in China. A questionnaire was distributed to 4716 left-behind adolescents in ten middle/high schools. We performed Bayesian estimations in structural equation modeling using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to test our hypotheses.ResultsNegative life events were significantly related to resilience (rs = − 0.402), self-esteem (rs = − 0.292), and positive social adjustment (rs = − 0.239). Positive social adjustment was directly affected by resilience (β = 0.639) and self-esteem (β = 0.448). Negative life events were not only directly related to positive social adjustment (β = − 0.187, 95% credible interval: − 0.233 ~ − 0.139), but also showed an indirect effect on positive social adjustment (β = − 0.541, 95% credible interval: − 0.583 ~ − 0.501) through resilience (β = − 0.370) and self-esteem (β = − 0.171). The total effect of negative life events on positive social adjustment was − 0.728, where 74.31% was mediated by resilience and self-esteem. The indirect effect of negative life events on positive social adjustment through resilience and self-esteem was 2.893 times more than the direct effect.ConclusionsResilience and self-esteem mediated most of the effect of negative life events on positive social adjustment. Interventions should be developed to improve the social adjustment of adolescents who are left behind, particularly the enhancement of resilience and self-esteem.
Highlights
In China, adolescents are frequently left behind by their parents
In conclusion, our study found that Negative life events (NLEs) had a negative effect on resilience, self-esteem and Positive social adjustment (PSA), while resilience and self-esteem had a positive effect on PSA
Resilience and self-esteem acted as mediators between NLEs and PSA
Summary
In China, adolescents are frequently left behind by their parents. A great deal of scientific evidence demonstrates considerable psychological and social impacts that negative life events may have on adolescents who are left behind. Most of the migrants were unable to take their families with them to cities due to their low incomes and poor living standards [2], so they had to leave their children back in their hometowns. These children are generally known as “left-behind children”. Left-behind adolescents (LBAs) are away from their parents for extended periods They may benefit from their family having more money [7], the cost of social and psychological well-being must be heeded, which comes from the sacrifices these youths make with regard to physical and emotional intimacy. An earlier study showed that LBAs are susceptible to feelings of being deserted and unloved, with feelings of apprehension and confusion and worry, a situation that could have a negative impact on socialization [8]
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