Associations between poor health and school-related behavior problems at the child and family levels: a cross-sectional study of migrant children and adolescents in southwest urban China

Social Identity, Core Self-Evaluation, School Adaptation, and Mental Health Problems in Migrant Children in China: A Chain Mediation Model

(1) Background: The present study investigated the relationships between social identity, core self-evaluation, school adaptation, and mental health problems in migrant children, and the mechanism underlying these relationships; (2) Methods: The participants were migrant middle school students in China. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26. A survey comprising the social identity scale, core self-evaluation scale, school adaptation scale, and mental health scale MMHI-60 was deployed; (3) Results: Findings indicated a significant and negative association between social identity and mental health problems, and such an association was sequentially mediated by core self-evaluation and school adaptation. Furthermore, core self-evaluation and school adaptation played a chain mediation role between social identity and migrant children's mental health problems; (4) Conclusions: It is crucial to improve social identity, core self-evaluation, and school adaptation to reduce mental health problems among this population. Therefore, the research results provide a new direction for promoting the development of mental health education for migrant workers and their children in China.

Stressful life events and well-being among rural-to-urban migrant adolescents: The moderating role of the stress mindset and differences between genders

INTRODUCTION

Recent empirical studies have shown that the stress mindset is an implicit belief about stress and that the stress-is-enhancing mindset attenuates the negative effects of stressful life events on psychological and behavioral outcomes. Migrant adolescents experience more adverse life events, which are potential risk factors that can decrease their well-being. This study first explored the relationship between stressful life events and well-being (depression and life satisfaction) among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents. Furthermore, we examined the protective role of the enhancing stress mindset in this relationship and the moderating effect of gender.

METHODS

In total, 396 Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents aged between 10 and 14 years (M = 11.75 years, SD = 1.16) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires concerning their stressful life events, stress mindsets, depression and life satisfaction.

RESULTS

The hierarchical multiple regressions showed that stressful life events were positively associated with depression and negatively associated with life satisfaction. Compared to the adolescents with the stress-is-debilitating mindset, the adolescents with the stress-is-enhancing mindset were less prone to depression when faced with more stressful life events. Furthermore, the stress mindset was positively linked to life satisfaction among the girls but not the boys.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the stress-is-enhancing mindset is a protective factor that may help migrant adolescents mitigate adversity and improve their well-being.

Oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices among rural-urban migrant children in Guangzhou: a follow-up study

BACKGROUND

Despite the growing number of rural-urban migrant children in China, follow-up observation on the oral health of migrant children is still scarce. This study described the changes of oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices in migrant children over a period of one year. Possible factors affecting changes were also investigated.

METHODS

The study used purposive sampling to select five private schools of migrant children in Guangzhou. A total of 1900 students in Grades 3 and 4 were recruited. A self-administered questionnaire was used in November 2011 to understand their basic situations, including oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices. A final survey was conducted in April 2013 to detect any changes.

RESULTS

The mean accuracy of oral health knowledge was 53.17% and 59.42% in 2011 and 2013, respectively (p < 0.001). For migrant children, the total score of oral hygiene, dietary habits and parental practices increased at the follow-up evaluation (p < 0.05). Children with less oral health knowledge were more likely to achieve significantly positive changes in score of knowledge (p < 0.001) in the final survey. Migrant children who had worse performance on oral hygiene (beta estimate = 0.68, p < 0.001), dietary habits (beta estimate = 0.58, p < 0.001) and good parental practices in the baseline survey were more likely to obtain beneficial changes. No significant associations between demographic characteristics and changes of oral health knowledge and behaviors (p > 0.05) were observed.

CONCLUSION

Oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices among migrant children significantly improved at the follow-up assessment. However, the overall situation was still poor. Positive and effective health education and prevention programs tailored to rural-urban migrant children with varying levels of oral health knowledge, behaviors and parental practices will be needed.

Peer Victimization and Depressive Symptoms Among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Children in China: The Protective Role of Resilience

Peer victimization can have a profound effect on children’s wellbeing and is a known risk factor for depression in childhood. Migrant children experience peer victimization at higher rates than non-migrant peers; however, limited research has examined psychological factors that may serve to reduce depression risk for this group. In particular, no studies have yet investigated whether resilience, including personal characteristics, and a strong social support network, may moderate the relationship between peer victimization and depressive symptoms for migrant children. This study utilized a latent interaction model to examine the effect of resilience on the relationship between peer victimization and depressive symptoms among 721 rural-to-urban migrant children in Beijing, China. Results indicated that peer victimization was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Resilience was found to be a protective factor for depressive symptoms and also mitigated the effects of peer victimization on depressive symptoms. Exploratory analyses suggest that enrollment in private migrant schools may be linked with poorer psychosocial outcomes for Chinese migrant children. Strengthening the internal resilience and social supports for all migrant children may be an effective strategy to lower their risk for depression. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Association between family factors and children's oral health behaviors--a cross-sectional comparative study of permanent resident and migrant children in large cities in China

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association of family factors on oral health behaviors of children and compare them between permanent residents and migrant children.

METHODS

A total of 3015 children in grades 4, 5, and 6 from 16 elementary schools and their parents in Beijing and Guangzhou, China, were selected through multistage stratified cluster random sampling. Questionnaires constructed for this study were self-completed by children and parents to collect information on children's oral health behaviors (COHB), parents' modeling behaviors (PMB), parents' direct controlling behaviors (PDCB), parents' indirect controlling behaviors (PICB), parents' oral health knowledge and attitudes (POHKA), and children's oral health knowledge and attitudes (COHKA). Correlation analysis and path analysis were used to explore the correlation between COHB and PMB, as well as the effects of family factors [socioeconomic status (SES), PMB, PDCB, PICB, and POHKA on COHB].

RESULTS

Considering all participants, the rates of behavioral similarities of parents and children were 63.8-86.1%, all showing statistical significance. For family factors included, PMB, SES, PICB, and POHKA demonstrated positive relationships with COHB with standardized coefficients of 0.200, 0.122, 0.040, and 0.059 in residents and 0.160, 0.121, 0.090, and 0.041 in migrants, respectively. Family SES was associated with COHB directly and indirectly to a similar degree. In migrants, the relationship between COHKA and COHB was greater than that between PMB and COHB. COHB scores were higher in younger children. In residents, the relationship between PMB and COHB was greater than that between COHKA and COHB. COHB scores were slightly higher in older children indirectly influenced by increases in COHKA.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents' behaviors shared relatively high similarities with COHB and family factors were associated with COHB greatly. The relationship between PMB and COHB was less than that between COHKA and COHB in migrants. The association between family factors and COHB in disadvantaged populations should be considered when designing children's health education programs.

The mental health of children of migrant workers in Beijing: the protective role of public school attendance

The present study aims to understand the mental health status of an understudied group of migrant children - children of migrant workers in China. A total of 1,466 children from Beijing participated in the study that compared migrant children (n = 1,019) to their local peers (n = 447) in public and private school settings. Results showed that overall, migrant children reported more internalizing and externalizing mental health problems and lower life satisfaction than local peers. However, public school attendance served as a protective factor for migrant children's mental health. The mental health status of migrant children attending public schools, including externalizing problems as well as friend and school satisfaction, was not different from local children. In addition, our data indicates that the protective effect of public school attendance for migrant children may be even more salient among girls than boys, and for younger children than older children.

Mental health in migrant schoolchildren in Italy: teacher-reported behavior and emotional problems

The migration process is a cause of physical and social stressors that may lead to mental health problems, particularly in children. In Italy, there are few studies about migrant children's mental health; thus, the aim of this study is to compare the prevalence and types of emotional and behavioral problems in migrant schoolchildren to those of native Italian children. The research involved migrant (first- and second-generation) and native schoolchildren attending kindergarten, primary, and secondary school. A questionnaire was administered to parents to collect information about the sociodemographic characteristics of the children. All teachers filled in the Teacher's Report Form for migrant and native children. The findings show that teachers detect academic and adaptive problems more easily in migrant schoolchildren, but they are probably less aware of the children's psychological problems. The observations made in this study provide a starting point in understanding the psychological status and main problems noted among migrant children.

Factors associated with internalizing or somatic symptoms in a cross-sectional study of school children in grades 1-10

BACKGROUND

School related factors that may contribute to children's subjective health have not been extensively studied. We assessed whether factors assumed to promote health and factors assumed to have adverse effects were associated with self-reported internalizing or somatic symptoms.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study, 230 boys and 189 girls in grades 1-10 from five schools responded to the same set of questions. Proportional odds logistic regression was used to assess associations of school related factors with the prevalence of sadness, anxiety, stomach ache, and headache.

RESULTS

In multivariable analyses, perceived loneliness showed strong and positive associations with sadness (odds ratio, 1.94, 95% CI 1.42 to 2.64), anxiety (odds ratio, 1.78, 95% CI 1.31 to 2.42), and headache (odds ratio, 1.47, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.96), with consistently stronger associations for girls than boys. Among assumed health promoting factors, receiving necessary help from teachers was associated with lower prevalence of stomach ache in girls (odds ratio, 0.51, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.87).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that perceived loneliness may be strongly related to both internalizing and somatic symptoms among school children, and for girls, the associations of loneliness appear to be particularly strong.