父母关爱对农村留守儿童抑郁的影响机制：追踪研究 <sup>*</sup>

Abstract

There are about 61.02 million left-behind rural children in China, who were left at their hometowns by one or both of their rural-to-urban migrant parents. As a result of parental migration, left-behind children receive compromised parental care and are at higher risk for depression than non-left-behind children. In light of the huge number of Chinese left-behind children and their heightened risk for depression, the association between parental care and left-behind children's depression and the underlying mechanisms were examined in a sample of 279 fourth-graders and seventh-graders over 2.5 years. The analytic sample included 72 children left behind by both parents, 79 children left behind by fathers, and 56 non-left-behind children. These children's family structure, guardians, and the left behind type remained stable across the 2.5 years.The results showed that children left behind at home by one or both of their migrant parents reported less parental care and higher depression at both the pretest and the posttest than non-left-behind children. Depression assessed at posttest was higher than that at pretest among children left behind by both parents. When controlling for gender, parental care at pretest was associated with concurrent depression among left-behind children via self-esteem and neuroticism; parental care at pretest also was associated with left-behind children's depression at posttest via self-esteem and neuroticism at posttest. When controlling for gender and posttest parental care, pretest parental care was marginally associated with posttest depression but the mediation effects via posttest self-esteem and neuroticism disappeared. Under either controlling condition, the interaction between pretest parental care and pretest friendship quality predicted posttest self-esteem and neuroticism. Specifically, associations between pretest parental care and posttest self-esteem and neuroticism were stronger among left-behind 7th-graders with higher friendship quality than those with lower friendship quality.The findings of this study supported some propositions of the diathesis-stress theory on depression. Moreover, the findings have several practical implications for future intervention on reducing depression among left-behind children. Programs that aim to decrease those children's depression should pay attention to strengthening their parental care, improving their self-esteem and emotional stability, and promoting their friendship quality.

Investigating the Association Between Parental Absence and Developmental Trauma Disorder Symptoms

“…Parental absence due to work‐related migration is a relatively new phenomenon in this country. As many studies on economic development in China indicate, the side effects of urbanization in China have included an increase in mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, or poor health (e.g., Chen et al., ; Fan et al., ; Ke, Xu, & Zhang, ; Zhou et al., ). Left‐behind children may be the victims of this economic growth, at least in the short‐term.…”

“…Among them, 80% are in the care of aging grandparents, 13% are in the care of relatives and friends, and 7% have little or no care (China Women's Federation, ). Studies have raised concerns about the neglect of left‐behind children in China because of the potential negative effects associated with parental absence, such as low test scores, low self‐assessment of behaviors, or low levels of happiness and satisfaction (e.g., Chen et al., ; Fan, Fang, Huang, Chen, & Yu, ; Wu & Zhang, ; Zhou, Murphy, & Tao, ).…”

Effect of Social Support on the Psychological Adjustment of Chinese Left-Behind Rural Children: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…The criteria of inclusion in this study were (a) normal intelligence (according to the judgment of actual guardian such as grandmother), (b) effective questionnaire response, and (c) from an intact family. According to the migrant situation of their parents, the children are divided into three categories of single-parent migrant [single-LBC (SLBC)], double-parent migrant [double-LBC (DLBC)], and non-migrant parents [non-LBC (NLBC)] (Fan et al, 2018). Table 1 shows their gender and school age distributions.…”

“…The growth environment in LBC has been changed since their parents' migration due to employment. LBC may experience not only decreased parental care (Fan et al, 2018) but also high social discrimination (Zhang et al, 2015) and peer bullying (Lu et al, 2017). Some social help activities might also strengthen their feelings of being treated differently.…”

“…Meanwhile, the actual guardians may fulfill the parenting and supervision obligations. Second, LBC usually have their own circle of friends to help them when they feel sad (Fan et al, 2018). Third, teachers in the schools typically care for LBC in terms of life, emotions, and academics (Wang et al, 2016).…”