Left-behind Children In China Research Articles

The Impact of Parental Migration on Offspring’s Education Investment: Evidence from Left-Behind Children in China

Educational investment of families in their children is related to the sustainable development of both individuals and society. This paper uses data from China Family Panel Studies to study the impact of rural parents’ internal migration on education investment in left-behind children in China. The results show that parental internal migration has a significant negative impact on educational investment in left-behind children. The results persisted after further treatment for endogeneity and multiple robustness tests. Mechanism analysis shows that while increasing the family income, rural to urban migration reduces parents’ recognition of children’s education, thus reducing the family’s investment in left-behind children’s education. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the negative impact of both parents’ going out was the largest, followed by only the father going out, while only the mother going out was no longer significant. The negative effect of inter-provincial out-going is greater than that of intra-provincial out-going. Girls were negatively affected more than boys; middle school students were more affected than primary school students. Our findings suggest it is necessary to further eliminate labor market discrimination caused by household registration and improve educational quality of rural public schools. The lessons learned from China are valuable for other developing countries with large numbers of rural citizens migrating to cities.

Internal migration and child health: An investigation of health disparities between migrant children and left-behind children in China.

Using data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this study empirically examines the association between internal migration and child health through an investigation of health disparities between migrant children and left-behind children in China. The results show that, in comparison with being left behind, migrating with parents significantly improves children’s self-reported health, height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ), and reduces their frequency of sickness. These findings remain robust to a suite of robustness checks. Furthermore, the health effects of internal migration are more prominent for children with a rural hukou compared with urban ones. Although migrant children are more likely to experience teacher discrimination, they have higher levels of parental care, family relationships, and peer relationships relative to their left-behind counterparts, which indicates possible mechanisms behind the association between children’s migration and health. Our findings underline the importance of policy improvement and evidence-based interventions aiming at reducing involuntary parent-child separation and facilitating the development in health of disadvantaged children in developing countries like China.

Social Anxiety and Subjective Quality of Life Among Chinese Left-Behind Children: The Mediating Role of Social Support.

The issue of left-behind children has become a key focus in China. In this study, we investigate the mediating role of social support between social anxiety and the subjective quality of life among left-behind children in China (N = 379, Mage = 13.65). A total of 710 junior high school students were recruited using clustering random sampling from five middle schools in China and investigated using the Social Anxiety Scale for Children, Social Support Rating Scale for Adolescents, and Inventory of Subjective Life Quality. The results show that social anxiety is negatively associated with social support and subjective quality of life, and social support is positively correlated with subjective quality of life. In addition, social support partially mediates the relationship between social anxiety and subjective quality of life. In conclusion, these findings provide new insights to improve the subjective quality of life of left-behind children. The focus should be on alleviating social anxiety and increasing social support in order to help left-behind children improve their subjective quality of life.

Word of Mouth from Left-Behind Children in Rural China: Exploring Their Psychological, Academic and Physical Well-being During COVID-19.

COVID-19 has had considerable effects on people’s lives worldwide, particularly left-behind children in China as they tragically witnessed the outbreak. From the outset, millions of left-behind children in rural areas experienced extensive physical and psychological disturbances because their migrant parents who lived in the city or another province could not be with them. This study explored the psychological, academic, and physical well-being of rural left-behind children during COVID-19. We captured the experiences of 10- to 15-year-old children and adolescents who were left behind by their migrant parents before the COVID-19 outbreak. The results of the present study suggest that left-behind children have exhibited severe psychological illnesses since the pandemic has limited their social interactions with peers and increased improper caretaking from grandparents.

How does family cultural capital influence the individuals’ development? —case study about left-behind children in China

How does family cultural capital influence the individuals’ development? —case study about left-behind children in China

The reciprocal relationship between perceived Interparental conflict and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors among left-behind children in China

The reciprocal relationship between perceived Interparental conflict and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors among left-behind children in China

Perceived Stress, Social Support, Emotional Intelligence, and Post-Stress Growth among Chinese Left-Behind Children: A Moderated Mediation Model

Background: Several previous studies have revealed a negative impact of perceived stress on post-stress growth. Nevertheless, the potential mediating and moderating mechanisms are unclear, particularly for left-behind children in China. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the negative relationship between perceived stress and post-stress growth, the mediating effect of social support, as well as the moderating effect of emotional intelligence in a sample of Chinese left-behind children. Methods: A sample of 837 Chinese students in elementary and middle school was collected for this study. The Perceived Stress Scale, the Social Support Scale, the Emotional Intelligence Scale, and the Post-Stress Growth Scale were employed to examine them. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 software. Results: The results indicate a significant negative association between perceived stress and post-stress growth. Among perceived stress and social support, the former acted as a mediator, while the latter as a moderator. This study sheds light on the post-stress growth of Chinese left-behind children. The findings validated a model of moderated mediation that shows the relationship between perceived stress, emotional intelligence, social support, and post-stress growth. Conclusion: This study confirmed that social support is one of the most important factors among left-behind children, from perceived stress to post-stress growth. Furthermore, the study reveals that emotional intelligence can adjust the relationship between perceived stress and social support to post-stress growth. Therefore, for both family education and school education, the result provides a new direction.

Relationship between parent–child attachment and depression among migrant children and left-behind children in China

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to examine the relationship between parent–child attachment and depression in migrant children (MC), left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (NLBC) in China. Study designThis was a cross-sectional study. MethodsIn total, 4294 children (4th to 9th grade) participated in this study, including 677 MC, 1411 LBC and 2206 NLBC from 17 different schools. ResultsThe results showed that (1) the prevalence of depression among MC (21.0%) and LBC (14.0%) was significantly higher than that among NLBC (10.8%); (2) the quality of parent–child attachment among MC was statistically significantly lower than among LBC and NLBC (the proportion of children whose father–child and mother–child attachments were both insecure was 55.4% among MC, 29.9% among LBC and 33.7% among NLBC); and (3) depression was affected by the interaction between the group of children and parent–child attachment; compared with NLBC whose parent–child attachments were both secure, the odds ratio of depression among MC whose parent–child attachments were both insecure was 7.39, which was significantly higher than LBC (5.34) and NLBC (4.86) whose parent–child attachments were both insecure. ConclusionsThe prevalence of depression among MC and LBC was significantly higher than that among NLBC in China. The quality of parent–child attachment among MC was statistically significantly lower than that of LBC and NLBC. Secure attachment could reduce the risk of depression and insecure parent–child attachment increased the risk of depression. Depression was affected by the interaction between the group of children and parent–child attachment; migration was a significant risk factor associated with child depression.

Factors Associated With Non-suicidal Self-Injury in Chinese Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescents is an increasing public health problem in China. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies on NSSI in Chinese adolescents (between 10 and 19 years) to examine factors associated with NSSI. Twenty-five papers including 30 separate studies with 186,447 participants were included for analysis. The results from a random-effects model showed a weak, but significant overall prediction of NSSI (OR = 1.734). There were significant associations between the following seven factors and NSSI (ranking by the effect sizes, in descending order): adverse life events (OR = 2.284), negative coping style (OR = 2.040), problematic internet use (OR = 2.023), sleep disturbance (OR = 1.734), traumatic experiences (OR = 1.728), problematic parent-child relationship (OR = 1.585), mental health problems (OR = 1.578). Additionally, NSSI sample type moderated these effects. These findings highlight factors significantly associated with NSSI in Chinese adolescents. Parent-child relationship and mental health of the only children and left-behind children in China deserve more attention.Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019123508.

Telling the Stories of Left-behind Children in China

The issue of “left-behind children” in China has been widely recognized as a significant social problem, as more than 61 million children are living in villages away from their parents, who have migrated to large cities to seek employment opportunities. There is a very limited number of media products depicting left-behind children in rural China as central characters with individual personalities. As Stuart Hall states, representation is the process or channel or medium through which meanings are both created and reified. This paper analyzes how stories and voices of this underprivileged group are presented in recent years to the public in different non-fictional media forms, particularly documentary films. Through content analysis of selected samples, the paper examines how narratives are weaved about the lives and emotions of these children, and how the stories make sense of their family experiences. The paper discusses the power of digital narratives and visual-based expressions. It also examines how the products of representation are mediated by different types of storytellers, who are often motivated by a sense of social engagement to raise awareness about the plight of these children to appeal for support but addresses the issue from their specific perspectives. Image Credit: Still of Children at a Village School by Nengjie Jiang

Decreased Right Prefrontal Synchronization Strength and Asymmetry During Joint Attention in the Left-Behind Children: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study.

Although there are millions of left-behind children in China, the researches on brain structure and functions in left-behind children are not sufficient at the brain imaging level. This study aimed to explore whether there is decreased prefrontal synchronization during joint attention in left-behind children. Sixty children (65.12 ± 6.54 months, 29 males) with 34 left-behind children were recruited. The functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging data from the prefrontal cortex during joint attention, as well as behavioral measures (associated with family income, intelligence, language, and social-emotional abilities), were collected. Results verified that brain imaging data and behavioral measures are correlative and support that left-behind children have deficits in social-emotional abilities. More importantly, left-behind children showed decreased synchronization strength and asymmetry in the right middle frontal gyrus during joint attention. The findings suggest that decreased right prefrontal synchronization strength and asymmetry during joint attention might be vulnerability factors in the development of left-behind children.

Long-Term Parental Absence and Educational Expectations among Children: A Quantitative Analysis of Left-Behind Children in China

Long-Term Parental Absence and Educational Expectations among Children: A Quantitative Analysis of Left-Behind Children in China

Educational Expectations of Left-behind Children in China: Determinants and Gender Differences

In response to the relatively low educational attainment of left-behind children in China, this article examines the determinants of educational expectations among left-behind children and how these differ by gender by analyzing data collected from 2215 left-behind children in southwestern China. Multinomial logistic regression models of educational expectations that incorporate family economic status, care arrangement under different parental migration patterns, and significant others are tested by gender and school level. The results prove that all of the above incorporated factors affect the educational expectations of left-behind children to a considerable extent. Comparisons of educational expectations are made between left-behind children in primary school and junior high school and between different genders. The results show that male advantages in educational expectations exist only during primary school, and female left-behind children surpass male children to have higher educational expectations during junior high school. This suggests a distinctive influence of care arrangements on educational expectations between genders. For female children, grandparental care and a higher frequency of parental contact during migration could be substituted for parental absence. However, for male children, grandparental care does not fully substitute for parental care, and parental migration seems to be more detrimental to them. The findings add to our understanding of the dynamic relationship among parental migration, gender inequality, and educational opportunity among left-behind children in general.

Assessing assistive devices for manipulation: Design universality and users' perception

Although alienation toward parents is important for children (for current mental health status or later interpersonal relationships in adulthood), it is undervalued and even lacks a standardized tool of assessment. Moreover, the large number of left-behind children in China is a cause of public concern. However, their experienced alienation toward their parents remains unclear, which may be important for early detection or intervention for behavioral problems in this population. Hence, the current study aimed to develop an alienation inventory for children and then use it to investigate the experienced alienation toward parents in Chinese left-behind children.Two studies were carried out. Study 1 was designed to develop a standard inventory of alienation toward parents (IAP). In study 2, 8361 children and adolescents (6704 of them were left-behind status) of the Chongqing area, aged between 8 and 19 years old, were recruited for investigation. All participants were surveyed with a standard sociodemographic questionnaire, children's cognitive style questionnaire, children's depression inventory, adolescent self-rating life events checklist, and newly built IAP in study 1.In study 1, we developed a two-component (communication and emotional distance) and 18-item (9 items for maternal or paternal form, respectively) IAP questionnaire. In study 2, exploratory factor analysis indicated an expected two-factor structure of IAP, which was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients showed a good reliability (0.887 and 0.821 for maternal and paternal form, respectively). Children with absent mother experienced the highest alienation toward parents. Boys as well as children aged 8–10 years old experienced higher alienation toward parents. Poor communication with parents (sparse or no connection), level of left-behind condition (parents divorced, been far away from parents), and psychosocial vulnerability (stressful life events, negative cognitive style) were risk factors of alienation toward parents.The current study develops a two-factor (communication and emotional distance) IAP, which offers a reliable tool to assess experienced alienation of affection toward parents in children aged between 8 and 19 years old. Our result is the first investigation of experienced alienation and potential influential factors in Chinese left-behind children. The findings that children with absent mother experience higher alienation toward parents, as well as three recognized risk factors for alienation of affection toward parents (poor communication with absent parents, worse left-behind condition, and psychosocial vulnerability), give valuable guidance for parents who intend to leave or who are already leaving as well as for government policymaking.

Social Innovation and Health-Related Well-Being of Left-Behind Children: Evidence from an Intelligent Robot Project in China

In China, rural children, compared to their urban counterparts, are disadvantaged by less parental care and limited access to educational resources. This can have dire consequences for their health-related well-being during a vulnerable and formative stage of the life course. Quality of life (QOL) has been increasingly used as an indicator of individuals’ well-being. QOL studies have primarily been conducted in Western contexts, but there is relatively less knowledge on QOL in the Chinese context, particularly for rural left-behind children (LBC). This study analyzed the effects of a socially innovative product – intelligent robots by the Li Ensan Charity Foundation – on the health-related well-being of rural LBC in China. Children who used the robots and reported higher satisfaction with the use experienced positive effects on QOL than their counterparts.. We discussed the implications of these results in the context of micro- and macro-level practice.

Is left-behind a real reason for children's social cognition deficit? An fNIRS study on the effect of social interaction on left-behind preschooler's prefrontal activation.

The left-behind phenomenon, caused by parent out-migration, has become a common social issue and might lead to long-term and potential risks for children in rural areas of China. It is important to investigate the effect of social interaction on prefrontal activation of left-behind children in China because of possible effects of parent out-migration on children’s social cognition. We recruited 81 rural Chinese preschoolers aged 52–76 months (mean = 64.98 ± 6.321 months) preschoolers with three different statuses of parental out-migration (including non-, partially, and completely left-behind children). Using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), we compared behavior and brain activation and in three groups (non-, partially-, completely-left-behind children) under two different social interaction conditions (child-teacher and child-stranger situation). Results revealed that initiating joint attention (IJA) may evoke higher brain activation than responding to joint attention (RJA) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), especially in the case of initiating joint attention with the stranger. In addition, the activation of joint attention was positively correlated with children’s language score, cognitive flexibility, and facial expression recognition. More importantly, partially-left-behind children evoked higher brain activation in the IJA condition and presented a higher language level than completely/non-left-behind children. The current study provides insight into the neural basis of left-behind children’s development and revealed for the first time that family economic level and left-behind status may contribute to the lower social cognition.

Network analysis of the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms in the left-behind children

BackgroundThere are 68.77 million left-behind children in China, who are at a great risk of depression associated with negative life events. Our study aims to investigate the most central symptoms of depression in left-behind children and the relationship between depressive symptoms and negative life events using network analysis.MethodA cross-sectional data set (N = 7255) was used, which included children and adolescents aged 7 to 17. Network analysis was used to evaluate: 1) the most central symptoms among the items included in Child Depression Inventory (CDI) of the left-behind children; 2) bridge symptoms between depressive disorder and Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC) of the left-behind children; 3) differences in networks of depressive disorders between left-behind and non-left-behind children, and 4) differences in the network of depression and negative life events between left-behind and non-left-behind children. The stability and centrality indices of the network were also evaluated in the study.ResultsThe most central symptoms in the CDI among the left-behind children included self-hatred, crying, fatigue, and sadness. The items with the highest bridge strength centrality in the CDI-ASLEC network included academic stress, discrimination, and school performance decrement. Higher bridge strength values indicate a greater risk of contagion to other communities. The connections in the CDI-ASLEC network are denser in the left-behind children than in non-left-behind children.LimitationsThe study which was conducted based on cross-sectional data shows that network analysis can only make undirected estimation, but not causal inferences.ConclusionsWe identified the core symptoms of depression and the bridge symptoms between negative life events and depression in the left-behind children. These findings suggest that more attention should be paid to self-hatred, sadness, and fatigue in the treatment of depression in left-behind children. Intervention for academic stress and discrimination of the left-behind children may help to reduce the contagion of negative life events to depression symptoms.

Bullying Victimization and Life Satisfaction Among Rural Left-Behind Children in China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the associations between bullying victimization and life satisfaction in primary school children and also investigate the interactive effects of left-behind status and bullying victimization on life satisfaction.Materials and Methods: Bullying victimization was measured using the Chinese version of the revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Life satisfaction was assessed using the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS). Life satisfaction is composed of five domains, namely, family, school, friends, environment, and self-satisfaction. Left-behind status of rural children was defined as one or both their parents migrating to working in cities. The data were analyzed using Mann–Whitney U tests, Chi-square tests, and multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses.Results: A total of 810 primary school children were involved, of which 8.5% reported bullying victimization, and 44.3% were left-behind children (LBC). We found that bullying victimization was negatively associated with all domains of life satisfaction (all p < 0.05). With further left-behind status-stratified analysis, we found that negative association between bullying victimization and friend satisfaction was more profound in the LBC group than in the non-LBC group [b(SE)= −0.133 (0.03) vs. −0.061 (0.026) for LBC and non-LBC, respectively, p < 0.05]. When further interaction analysis was conducted, we identified interaction effects between left-behind status and bullying victimization on friend satisfaction (pinteraction = 0.048). Similar interaction effect between bullying victimization and left-behind status on school satisfaction was also found (pinteraction = 0.004).Conclusions: Bullying victimization was associated with low life satisfaction (including lower family, friends, school, self, and environment satisfaction). There were significant interactions between left-behind status and bullying victimization on friend satisfaction, as well as school satisfaction. Left-behind status of children may exaggerate the impact of bullying victimization on friends/school satisfaction rating.

Bidirectional Longitudinal Relationships between Maternal Psychological Control and Bullying/Victimization among Father-Absent Left-Behind Children in China.

The topic of school bullying has become an important issue over the world. Being in disadvantaged situations of fathers' absence, prior research suggested that left-behind children (LBC) with absent fathers in China are more vulnerable to get involved in school bullying (bullying or being bullied). In addition, fathers' absence brings much pressure to single stay-at-home mothers, leading to more maternal psychologically controlling parenting. Following a three-wave longitudinal design, this study aimed to examine the developmental relationship between maternal psychological control and father-absent LBC's bullying/victimization as well as its mechanism. A total of 348 father-absent LBC aged 7-11 years in China completed a battery of questionnaires at three-time points. The results indicated that there are reciprocal effects between maternal psychological control and father-absent LBC's bullying/victimization. Specifically, maternal psychological control at T1 predicted father-absent LBC's victimization at T2; children's victimization at T2 predicted maternal psychological control at T3; maternal psychological control predicted later children's bullying perpetration stably from T1 to T2 and from T2 to T3; children's bullying at T2 predicted maternal psychological control at T3. Two vicious circles happened in the above relationships. Current findings highlight the stronger effects of mothers' negative parenting on children's school bullying, which bring inspiration for future family education and school intervention.

The impact of parental migration on social identity - A framed field experiment with left-behind children in China

Recent studies suggest that an estimated 61 million rural migrants in China were living outside their hometowns with their children left behind. We examine the impact of parental migration on the social identity among children by conducting a field experiment with 311 children from a major labor-exporting area in China. By exploiting a natural setting on varying parental migration status, we want to study whether children interact with left-behind children and children under parental care differently. Children in our experiment make decisions to divide tokens between left-behind children and children under parental care. They also play a dictator game and an ultimatum game between themselves and another child, whose identity characteristics vary. We find that children, regardless of their own identity, show stronger generosity towards the left-behind children, propose sharing higher amounts with left-behind children, and are willing to accept lower proposed amounts from left-behind children.