Dataset Information

What Really Matters for Loneliness Among Left-Behind Children in Rural China: A Meta-Analytic Review.

ABSTRACT: In rural China, left-behind children are likely to suffer chronic loneliness. Research has identified a variety of factors that may be associated with loneliness among these children. A meta-analysis is needed to address the empirical inconsistencies and examine the strength of relations between different factors and loneliness. The current meta-analysis included 51 studies on predictors of loneliness published from 2008 to 2017. Results showed that one individual factor (social anxiety) is a key risk factor for loneliness, whereas eight individual (older age, self-esteem, resilience, extroversion) and contextual factors (family functioning, parent-child relationship, peer relationship, social support) serve as protective factors in predicting loneliness. In addition, boys were more likely to feel lonely than girls. Findings and implications of this study were discussed.

SUBMITTER: Chai X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6482215 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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What Really Matters for Loneliness Among Left-Behind Children in Rural China: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Chai Xiaoyun X Du Hongfei H Li Xiaoyan X Su Shaobing S Lin Danhua D

Frontiers in psychology 20190418

In rural China, left-behind children are likely to suffer chronic loneliness. Research has identified a variety of factors that may be associated with loneliness among these children. A meta-analysis is needed to address the empirical inconsistencies and examine the strength of relations between different factors and loneliness. The current meta-analysis included 51 studies on predictors of loneliness published from 2008 to 2017. Results showed that one individual factor (social anxiety) is a ke ...[more]

PMID: 31057450

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Project description:Existing research has found that parental migration may negatively impact the psychological adjustment of left-behind children. However, limited longitudinal research has examined if and how future orientation (individual protective factor) and social support (contextual protective factor) are associated with the indicators of psychological adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction, school satisfaction, happiness, and loneliness) of left-behind children. In the current longitudinal study, we examined the differences in psychological adjustment between left-behind children and non-left behind children (comparison children) in rural areas, and explored the protective roles of future orientation and social support on the immediate (cross-sectional effects) and subsequent (lagged effects) status of psychological adjustment for both groups of children, respectively. The sample included 897 rural children (Mage = 14.09, SD = 1.40) who participated in two waves of surveys across six months. Among the participants, 227 were left-behind children with two parents migrating, 176 were with one parent migrating, and 485 were comparison children. Results showed that, (1) left-behind children reported lower levels of life satisfaction, school satisfaction, and happiness, as well as a higher level of loneliness in both waves; (2) After controlling for several demographics and characteristics of parental migration among left-behind children, future orientation significantly predicted life satisfaction, school satisfaction, and happiness in both cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models, as well as loneliness in the longitudinal regression analysis. Social support predicted immediate life satisfaction, school satisfaction, and happiness, as well as subsequent school satisfaction. Similar to left-behind children, comparison children who reported higher scores in future orientation, especially future expectation, were likely to have higher scores in most indicators of psychological adjustment measured at the same time and subsequently. However, social support seemed not exhibit as important in the immediate status of psychological adjustment of comparison children as that of left-behind children. Findings, implications, and limitations of the present study were discussed.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:To examine the association between social capital and the health of male and female left-behind older adults in rural China. STUDY DESIGN:This cross-sectional study among the left-behind older adults aged 60 and older and with all their children working outside of Hubei, Shaanxi and Guangdong provinces in China was conducted in 2017-2018. A total of 1106 questionnaires were collected (participation rate=100.0%), and questionnaires from 1016 participants were used (effective rate=91.9%). METHODS:An ordinary least squares model was used to evaluate the association between social capital and health. Social capital included family trust, friend/neighbour trust, stranger trust, social participation, and network size and density. Health outcomes included basic and instrumental activities of daily living (BADL and IADL) and depression. RESULTS:Elevated family trust, friend/neighbour trust, stranger trust, high-level participation and middle-level network density were associated with reduced depression (b=-3.23, p<0.001; b=-0.41, p<0.001; b=-0.76, p<0.01; b=-1.04, p<0.05; b=-0.74, p<0.05, respectively). High-level participation and network density were also associated with elevated BADL (b=0.16, p<0.05; b=0.24, p<0.05, respectively). Elevated family trust (b=-2.86, p<0.05 in men; b=-3.86, p<0.001 in women), stranger trust (b=-0.68, p<0.05 in men; b=-0.80, p<0.05 in women) and high-level participation (b=-0.92, p<0.05 in men; b=-1.22, p<0.01 in women) were associated with reduced depression in both sexes. By contrast, elevated friend/neighbour trust was associated with reduced depression (b=-0.56, p<0.001) in women, high-level participation was associated with elevated BADL (b=0.19, p<0.05) and IADL (b=0.43, p<0.05) in men, and high-level network density was associated with elevated BADL (b=0.44, p<0.05) and IADL (b=0.57, p<0.05) and reduced depression (b=-1.05, p<0.05) in women. CONCLUSIONS:Social capital is closely related to left-behind older adults' health in rural China. More attention should be paid to increasing the stock of social capital in this special population, with a particular focus on the sex disparity.

Project description:BackgroundParent-child separation is a considerable adversity for left-behind children (LBC), but there is little evidence on the association between detailed characteristics of parent-child separation and social-emotional development among LBC. This study examined the characteristics of parent-child separation and its impacts on developmental delay among under-3 LBC in poor rural China.MethodsWe used data from 811 LBC surveyed in five poor counties in rural China in 2018. Detailed characteristics of their parental migration were recalled by their primary caregivers in face-to-face interviews. The children's social-emotional development was measured by using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association of detailed characteristics of parent-child separation with early social-emotional problems after adjusting for the children's and primary caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics.Results287 (35.4%) children were left behind by fathers and cared for by mothers (FM-MC), while 524 (64.6%) were left behind by both parents and cared for by grandparents (PM-GC). The rate of social-emotional problems among LBC was 36.8% (PM-GC vs FM-MC: 40.6% vs 29.5%; aOR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.16). For paternal migration, the medians of the child's age at the first migration and average duration per migration were 3 months (IQR: 1 to 9 months) and 4.48 months (IQR: 2.38 to 7.54 months), respectively. For maternal migration, the corresponding values were 9 months (IQR: 6 to 13 months) and 4.65 months (IQR: 2.71 to 7.62 months), respectively. On average, LBC had been separated from fathers for 72% of their life due to paternal migration and from mothers for 52% of their life due to maternal migration. No significant association was found between the detailed characteristics of paternal migration and social-emotional development among LBC, while social-emotional problems among LBC were significantly associated with the proportion of cumulative duration of maternal migration in the child's lifetime (aOR 2.83; 95% CI: 1.13 to 7.10).ConclusionsLBC under 3 years had a high risk of social-emotional problems in poor rural China. Cumulative exposure to maternal migration may be detrimental to LBC's early social-emotional development. Programs are necessary to support these children as well as their families.

Dataset Information

What Really Matters for Loneliness Among Left-Behind Children in Rural China: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Publications

What Really Matters for Loneliness Among Left-Behind Children in Rural China: A Meta-Analytic Review.

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