Background Adolescent mental health is a global public health concern and parental migration has been identified as a risk factor. However, the effect mechanism remained unclear. Methods A total of 2,737 participants (mean = 11.93, SD = 1.23) were recruited from twelve schools in migrant-sending areas in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. The participants responded to items in Child Depression Inventory, Parent–Adolescent Communication Scale, Olweus Bully or Victim Questionnaire and socio-demographic questions. Serial multiple mediation models were analysed using the bootstrapping method. Results Current and previous left-behind (LB) experience were significantly associated with higher risks of depression, non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideation (p < 0.05). Mother–adolescent communication and school bullying victimisation, in serial order, mediated the effect of current LB status on mental health (p < 0.05). In terms of previously LB adolescents, parent–adolescent communication was a standalone mediator (p < 0.01) and the serial mediation effect of parent–adolescent communication and school bullying victimisation was significant. Conclusions Lack of parent–adolescent communication and school bullying victimisation acted as risk factors for the negative effect of LB status or experience on adolescent mental health. The importance of these two interpersonal factors motivates future intervention initiatives to support the mental health of LB adolescents from an integrated perspective.

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Objectives: Parents are often torn between their parenting roles in the family and working roles at the workplace. This study focused on the associations of parental employment with children’s screen time (ST) on weekdays, weekends, and during the entire week.Methods: Unbalanced panel data including 2,977 children (aged 0–17 years) from five waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey data from 2004 to 2015 were utilized. Two-way fixed effects models were fitted to examine the associations of parental employment status, working hours, and overwork with children’s ST.Results: Compared to unemployment status, maternal formal employment positively predicted children’s ST on both weekdays and weekends, while maternal informal employment was associated with increased children’s ST on weekends. The more hours they worked, the more time their children spent using screens. Neither employment status nor the overwork of fathers was significant.Conclusion: Parental employment, especially maternal employment, was linked with the ST of children. More childcare-friendly labor policies are needed to promote healthy lifestyles among the next generation.

Background Parents are significantly important in shaping the screen use of children within a family system. This study aimed to examine the associations of Chinese children’s screen time (ST) over four years with parents’ attitudes toward their own screen use and physical activities (PA) and health behaviors including their ST, PA, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking. Methods The current study utilized data from two waves (2011 and 2015) of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), including 1,941 mother-father-child triads in 2011 and 2,707 mother-father-child triads in 2015 (with children aged 0-17-years-old). The ST of children and the parental attitudes and health behaviors were measured via self-report or proxy-report (for children under 6 years old) questionnaires. Pool-OLS regression models were used to assess the associations of parental attitudes and health behaviors with the ST of children. Moderation models were built to assess whether these associations depended on the gender, age, and family income of children, as well as whether paternal and maternal influences were moderated by the other parent. A multilevel cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) was used to assess parental influences on children’s ST over four years. Results Paternal ST (β = 0.09, p < 0.001), maternal ST (β = 0.10, p < 0.001), and paternal alcohol drinking (β = 0.30, p < 0.05) were positively associated with children’s ST. In addition, maternal smoking had a positive association with girls’ ST (β = 0.53, p < 0.05). Moreover, the association between maternal ST and children’s ST was observed to decline as family income increased (β = -0.03, p < 0.001). Paternal ST had a larger positive association with children’s ST when the ST of mothers exceeded 14 h/week (β = 0.06, p < 0.05). Furthermore, lagged associations were found between paternal attitudes toward PA (β = -1.63, p < 0.05) or maternal cigarette smoking (β = 1.46, p < 0.05) and children’s ST measured four years later. Conclusion Children establish a healthy lifestyle within the family system. From the perspective of the healthy family climate, the current study suggests that future programs for reducing children’s ST should be built through an integrative approach with special attention to parental attitudes and health behaviors.