Subjective well-being of left-behind children: a cross-sectional study in a rural area of eastern China

With the rapid economic development and urbanization, increasing numbers of rural labors have migrated to urban areas in China in the past 40 years [1, 2]. Due to various reasons, a large number of children were forced to leave behind by their migrant parents for indefinite periods. Data from the sixth national census showed that about 22% of all children, with an estimated number of 61 million, were left-behind in China [3].

Given the constant development in the quantity of left-behind children (LBC), significant research has been conducted to evaluate the health outcomes of these children. Several studies have indicated that children with experience of parent–child separation are increasingly susceptible to mental health problems. For example, compared with non-left-behind children (NLBC), LBC were more inattentive [4] and had a higher risk of depression [5], anxiety [6] and behavioral problems [7].

Subjective well-being (SWB) is a comprehensive index which incorporates both reflective subjective judgments of life satisfaction, and emotional responses to ongoing life in terms of positive and pleasant emotions versus unpleasant and negative feelings [8]. These emotions can be measured through self-report rating scales. These self-report measures are considered to have good reliability (genuinely stable over brief timeframes when there is little change in life circumstances) [9]. Evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies have demonstrated that degrees of SWB are correlated with numerous indicators of socially esteemed achievement, including successful outcomes in work, relationship, and health [10]. Albeit existing literature of SWB in children is yet constrained, studies have suggested that parental migration might have a significant impact on children’s SWB. For example, some studies reported that children being separated from both parents due to work migration had lower levels of SWB, as compared with NLBC or children with just a single parent separated due to work migration [11, 12]. A cross-sectional study conducted in Henan province in central China found that LBC had lower levels of life satisfaction and more elevated negative affect [13]. In addition, a longitudinal study conducted in Guangxi Province of South China reported that LBC had lower levels of life satisfaction, school satisfaction, and happiness [14].

Zhejiang Province is a relatively affluent province located in the east of China. However, there are a large number of LBC in the remote underdeveloped mountainous areas of Zhejiang Province such as Qingyuan County. To date, no study has been conducted to investigate the psychological well-beings of LBC in Qingyuan County. Therefore, in the present study, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of middle school and high school students in Qingyuan County to investigate LBC’s SWB and its associated factors such as parental migration status and parent–child communication, so as to provide information for the development of targeted intervention strategies.

In the present study, we found that environment satisfaction and family satisfaction in LBC were altogether lower than that in NLBC in Qingyuan County of rural eastern China. Furthermore, frequent contact between parents and children was related with high positive affect and life satisfaction among LBC.

Several studies have documented the negative impact of parental migration on children’s SWB status. A previous study conducted in African nations indicated that children with parents migrating had more unfortunate psychological well-being than children living with both parents [11]. Another cross-sectional study conducted in Henan province in central China likewise detailed that LBC had lower levels of life satisfaction and more elevated negative affect [13]. In addition, a longitudinal study including 897 rural children found that left-behind children revealed lower levels of life satisfaction, school satisfaction, and happiness [14]. Though we did not observe statistically significant differences in positive affect and negative affect between LBC and NLBC in Qingyuan County in the present study, we found that LBC had statistically significant lower scores in environment satisfaction and family satisfaction. Our discoveries were consistent with a previous cross-sectional study conducted in Jiangxi Province in China, which reported that children with one or both parents migrating had lower scores in environment satisfaction compared with NLBC [17].

A previous cross-sectional study that was conducted in Guangxi province in south China found that children with both parent migrating had lower scores of life satisfaction, compared with children with single parent migrating [20]. Though we did not find a statistically significant association between parental migrating status and SWB in LBC, our analyses suggested that children with mother migrating had the most reduced scores of SWB, compared with other types of parental migration status. It is possible that due to the work migration of the mother, the children cared for only by their fathers and brothers or sisters might receive inadequate emotional support. Consequently, children with mothers who leave for work migration for extended periods of time may require more attentions from their local neighborhood and the general public to improve their SWB status. In terms of the type of caregivers, we found that LBC whose caregivers were brothers/sisters had the most minimal scores in negative affect, while those taking care by themselves had the highest score of negative affect. This may because that brothers/sisters belonging to the same generation share similar emotional experience and could understand each other more, while those taking care of themselves may experience more negative feelings of lonely and abandoned [21].

In the present investigation, we found that parent–child communication was correlated with positive affect and life satisfaction of LBC. Similarly, as the study findings conducted by Su et al. [20] likewise revealed that children with more significant levels of parent–child communication had higher levels of life satisfaction, school satisfaction and happiness. These discoveries suggested that parent–child communication may play an important role in child development with work migration parenting.

There are strengths as well as limitations to the present study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first principle study examining SWB and its associated factors among LBC in rural areas of eastern China. In any case, due to the cross-sectional design, we were unable to estimate the causal impact of parental migration on children’s SWB. Subsequently, further studies with a longitudinal design are warranted to surmise the causal factors related with SWB [22]. In addition, since the current study only included children from middle schools and high schools, our results may not necessarily apply to other age groups. Furthermore, as eastern China’s rural area is moderately affluent contrasted with other parts of rural China, the participants from rural areas in Qingyuan County might have characteristics different from populations in the central and western China rural areas, so the findings from this study might be limited when extrapolating to other populations.

In summary, our study suggests that family satisfaction and environment satisfaction were lower in LBC, and parent–child communication is an important factor for the improvement of SWB in LBC. Targeted interventions including strengthening parental-child communication and paying special attention to LBC with mother migrating should be developed and implemented to improve LBC’s SWB in rural areas of China.