Dataset Information

Socio-emotional challenges and development of children left behind by migrant mothers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With great economic development and rapid urbanization in China, left-behind children whose parents migrate to big cities for job has become a large special population which requires more attention. The present study aims to explore the specific influence of migrant mothers on early child development, especially on social-emotional problems.

Methods

The data of this study was obtained from a cross-sectional study in 8 counties of central and western rural China. Development status of 1880 children aged <60 months were assessed by Ages & Stages Questionnaire-Chinese Edition (ASQ) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional-Chinese Edition (ASQ: SE). Multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the association between being left behand by migrant mothers and developmental problems in various domains, while adjusting socio-demographic, socio-economic and perinatal co-variates, and effect modification analysis were conducted to explore the effect of age, gender and birth order.

Results

Children left behind by migrant mothers were more likely to have overall suspected developmental delay (odds ratio (OR)?=?1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI)?=?1.13-1.35), developmental delay in personal social domain (OR?=?1.55, 95% CI?=?1.17-2.04) and socio-emotional delay compared with those living with their own mothers (OR?=?1.49, 95% CI?=?1.11-2.00) after adjusting for potential confounders. Additionally, girls increased the odds of social-emotional problems among children being left behind by migrating mother (P for interaction?=?0.037).

Conclusions

The study concluded that children left behind by migrant mothers were more likely to have suspected developmental delay compared with their peers living with mothers, especially on social emotional development. Future intervention is needed for this special population and should pay more attention to girls.

SUBMITTER: Qu X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7182358 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Socio-emotional challenges and development of children left behind by migrant mothers.

Qu Xueqi X Wang Xi X Huang Xiaona X Ashish K C KC Yang Yuning Y Huang Yue Y Chen Chunyi C Gao Yaqing Y Wang Yinping Y Zhou Hong H

Journal of global health 20200601 1

<h4>Background</h4>With great economic development and rapid urbanization in China, left-behind children whose parents migrate to big cities for job has become a large special population which requires more attention. The present study aims to explore the specific influence of migrant mothers on early child development, especially on social-emotional problems.<h4>Methods</h4>The data of this study was obtained from a cross-sectional study in 8 counties of central and western rural China. Develop ...[more]

PMID: 32373338

Similar Datasets

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

Socio-emotional challenges and development of children left behind by migrant mothers.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Socio-emotional challenges and development of children left behind by migrant mothers.

Similar Datasets

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