Poor mental health affects caregivers' parenting practices and threatens the early development of children under 2 years old. This study examined the correlations between caregivers' mental health and parenting practices among 5- to 24-month-old children in rural China. Data were collected in two cohorts (October 2022 and March 2023) from 948 households randomly sampled from 120 villages. parenting practices measured by the Family Care Indicators (FCI). caregiver mental health (DASS-21), perceived social support (MSPSS) and socioeconomic status (SES; household asset index, caregiver education). Models adjusted for child age, child sex, caregiver age and household size, with standard errors clustered at the village level. Although caregivers provided more play materials for their children compared to previous research, the variety of play materials did not improve. Depressive symptoms among caregivers were associated with inadequate parenting practices, particularly with providing a lower variety of play materials. Both lower SES and more severe caregiver depressive symptoms were linked to less stimulating parenting, whereas higher perceived social support was associated with more stimulating practices and partially attenuated these SES- and mental health-related disparities. Although rural Chinese caregivers now supply more play materials, limited diversity and widespread caregiver mental health risks persist. Strengthening caregiver mental health and social support could enrich home stimulation and improve early childhood development.

The impact of Vocational Skills Training of Public Employment Services on off-farm employment: Evidence from rural China

Co-development of depression and delinquency among left-behind children in rural China

Public pension accelerates the household electrification: Experience from rural China

New quality productive forces and rural China's clean cooking transition: A spatial analysis

Blood and soil: How kinship and geographic proximity drive rooftop photovoltaic adoption in rural China

The long-run human capital benefits of the one-village-one-preschool pilot in rural northwestern China

ABSTRACT Background: Little is known regarding the association between adverse experiences and cognitive frailty, and the role of social support in this relationship. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between adverse experiences and cognitive frailty, as well as determine how social support affects this relationship among rural older adults in China. Methods: Data were obtained from two waves of follow-up surveys (2020 and 2022) conducted by the Shandong Rural Elderly Health Cohort (SREHC), including 2,572 participants aged 60 years or above. The primary outcome was cognitive frailty, defined as the co-existence of physical frailty (≥3 Fried criteria) and cognitive impairment (educationally adjusted Mini-Mental Status Examination). Self-reported adverse experiences were categorised as no adversity, only childhood adversity (≥1 of 12 events before age 17), only current adversity (≥1 of 7 events past year), and dual adversity (experiencing both childhood and current adversity). The Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analyses and the margins plot were performed to estimate our hypothetical models. Results: In fully adjusted models, older adults with dual adversity were significantly associated with a higher risk of cognitive frailty (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.02–2.63), not significant in only childhood or only current adversity. Social support alleviated the risk of cognitive frailty among rural older adults with only childhood adversity (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.21–0.79) or dual adversity (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.09–0.72), but not among those with only current adversity. Conclusions: Our results underscore the relationship between dual adversity and cognitive frailty, not significant in only childhood or only current adversity, with social support serving as a pivotal moderating factor. Governmental authorities should elevate their awareness of adverse experiences, and enhancing social support is crucial to preventing cognitive frailty and promoting healthy aging.

Prior research has pointed to the interaction effect between formal and informal institutions in public goods provision, but the mechanism remains under-investigated. This paper contributes to the research agenda by analyzing both field observations and panel surveys collected in rural China. Employing a mixed-method approach with qualitative analyses and a comparative study, this paper finds synergic interactions between resources invested from formal institutions and local lineage groups in uni-surname villages, leading to successful public goods provision. Conversely, in multi-surname villages characterized by subnetworks and factions, governance from formal institutions does not resonate with informal institutions, and thus public goods provision fails. Results underscore that governance from formal institutions alone is insufficient for the provision of public goods in rural China. The internal synergy of informal institutions is equally pivotal for community well-being. These findings advance our understanding of the interplay among government investment, local network structures, and public goods provision in rural settings.

Grandparenting is common globally, but it entails substantial costs of transferring time, financial and emotional resources and is said to cause a variety of labour market consequences for caregivers. This paper examines the effect of grandparents’ grandchild caregiving on their farm performance in rural China where grandparenting has historically been prevalent. Using a constructed panel data on potential grandparents’ grandparenting status from the National Fixed Point Survey, we exploit the instrumental variable approach to estimate both the extensive and intensive margin effect of grandparenting on farm performance. Our results suggest that, although grandchild caregiving did not encourage caregivers to quit farming, it resulted in a substantial decrease in caregivers’ total farm income, net farm income and crop yields. We also find supportive evidence for the plausible mechanisms behind the identified farming losses: the grandparenting-induced health damaging effect particularly on grandmothers, the agricultural-investment restriction effect, and the farmland downsizing effect, both of which proves to be the important determinant of agricultural production. Overall, our study provides robust evidence in support of the existence of grandparenthood penalty in agriculture sectors, which is of special importance to global agricultural production.

Purpose The objective of this study is to analyze whether rural mothers who participated in non-farm work (PNFW) can lift their children out of multidimensional poverty by enhancing women’s empowerment in the context of China. Design/methodology/approach This study uses nationally representative data, the rural sample of China Family Panel Studies 2018–2020, which includes specific children’s questionnaires. The AF method is used to measure multidimensional poverty among children aged 3–15 years. Local rainfall shock is employed as an instrumental variable (IV) for women’s PNFW choice and IV estimation is performed. Findings (1) Rural mothers’ PNFW significantly alleviates their children’s poverty and reduces deprivation in multiple dimensions, especially in education and living conditions. Compared to mothers who stay in farm work, children with mothers who participate in non-farm work are less likely to be deprived of multidimensional poverty. (2) Improved women’s empowerment is the mechanism by which the rural mothers’ PNFW lift their children out of poverty. Rural mothers who have a non-farm job have higher intrahousehold bargaining power and self-esteem, probably favoring children in family resource allocation and providing better parenting, thus reducing the deprivation of their children. Originality/value Unlike existing research that focuses on increased income and decreased companionship for children, this study provides novel evidence that engaging in non-farm work can empower rural mothers, reducing their children’s multidimensional poverty.

This study reports isolation of Escherichia coli strains coharboring the critical resistance genes blaNDM (carbapenemase) and mcr-1 (colistin resistance) from the guts of healthy individuals (rural China). All seven isolates were extensively drug resistant, susceptible only to tigecycline and streptomycin. Crucially, both resistance genes were located on transferable plasmids, demonstrating potential for horizontal spread. Genomic analysis revealed diverse strains and plasmid types carrying these genes within mobile genetic contexts. This discovery identifies healthy human carriers as a significant reservoir for pan-resistant bacteria, posing severe public health challenges and necessitating urgent surveillance in endemic areas.

Selenium intake and a selenium-centered nutrient pattern are inversely associated with remnant cholesterol among older women in rural China: partial mediation by tumor necrosis factor-α.

Grounded in Amartya Sen’s capability approach, this article understands rural students with learning difficulties as situated in structural contexts of capability deprivation and argues for using social and emotional learning (SEL) as a lever to shift from a remedial, score-oriented paradigm toward one centered on capability expansion. First, drawing on the notion of capability deprivation, the article analyzes the structural limitations of traditional remedial models and reveals their failures in problem attribution, intervention goals, and institutional logic. Second, based on the CASEL framework and meta-analytic evidence, it elaborates three core shifts in an SEL paradigm oriented toward capability expansion. Third, from the levels of curriculum and classroom instruction, teachers and schools, and families and communities, it proposes a multi-level action framework for SEL with rural students with learning difficulties, illustrated with emerging empirical studies from rural China. Finally, it discusses the enabling conditions and future challenges for institutionalizing this paradigm shift, including policy and system support, teacher professional learning, and evidence-based evaluation. The article contends that only by reinterpreting “learning difficulties” at the intersection of social-emotional development and structural inequality, and treating rural students with learning difficulties as subjects in need of capability expansion rather than mere recipients of remedial instruction, can rural education truly move from a narrow remedial logic toward a whole-child development logic and open more dignified and meaningful developmental pathways for these students. Keywords: Rural Students with Learning Difficulties; Social and Emotional Learning; Capability Approach; Left-Behind Children; Educational Intervention

Land Property Rights and Household Welfare: Evidence from Rural China

Service preferences and willingness to pay for household waste management to achieve sustainability: A choice experiment from rural China.

This study investigates how public value is constructed in rural governance through the interplay of digital civic embeddedness, moral legitimacy, procedural inclusion, and eco-cultural identity salience. Drawing on Public Value Theory (PVT), Social Identity Theory (SIT), and Digital Citizenship Theory (DCT), the study develops and empirically tests a structural model using survey data from 412 rural residents in Henan Province, China. Results from PLS-SEM analysis reveal that while digital civic embeddedness does not directly enhance perceived public value, it significantly influences it through procedural inclusion and identity salience. Moral legitimacy of local officials emerges as a key antecedent, positively affecting both mediators and public value perceptions. Furthermore, trust spillover to central government moderates these relationships, weakening the impact of procedural inclusion and strengthening the effect of identity salience. The findings contribute to theory by introducing a multi-level, psychologically grounded model of public value construction and by reframing digital citizenship as conditional on perceived fairness and cultural resonance. Practically, the study calls for identity-sensitive, ethically grounded, and procedurally inclusive governance strategies that go beyond digital access to cultivate trust and legitimacy in transforming rural contexts. Implications extend to digital policy design, leadership development, and symbolic co-production in public administration.

First documented case of cutaneous anthrax and brucellosis coinfection in a human in rural northern China: a case report.

Differential impact of general and abdominal obesity on the labor-bone health association: a cross-sectional study in rural China.

School dropout remains a pressing issue in rural China. Despite an increasing number of studies exploring its antecedents, there is still limited understanding of the protective factors and mechanisms pertaining to rural students' school retention. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigates the interrelationships among four dimensions of social support (i.e., caregivers, peers, school and community), satisfaction of basic psychological needs and school dropout intentions among Chinese rural students. Utilizing longitudinal data from a survey conducted in four junior high schools in Central China (N = 2187), this study employed structural equation modelling to test the mediating effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction on the relationship between the four dimensions of social support and dropout intentions. The mediation analysis reveals that the four dimensions of social support are positively correlated with students' satisfaction of basic psychological needs, which in turn is negatively correlated with their intentions to drop out. The mediating effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction was determined. This study highlights the importance of addressing rural students' psychological needs to enhance school retention. It advocates for integrating these needs into curriculum design, fostering supportive classroom environments and implementing comprehensive social support systems.