The Effect of Parental Involvement and Socioeconomic Status on Junior School Students' Academic Achievement and School Behavior in China

Relationships between internet addiction, smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance among high-school students

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationships between Internet addiction, smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic success.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, high-school students were surveyed to evaluate sleep quality, Internet addiction, and smartphone addiction. Students were queried about their demographics, and grade averages from the previous term were taken as an indicator of academic success.

RESULTS

A total of 1,959 students were enrolled in this study, with 1,034 (52.8%) girls and 925 (47.2%) boys, and the median age of the participants was 16 (13-21) years. Multivariate analyses found that poor sleep quality in students who did not have breakfast before going to school was 1.58 times higher than those who did (p<0.001). Students who stayed in a dormitory had 1.79 times more poor sleep quality than those who stayed with their family, and a one-unit increase in the total score of the Young's Internet Addiction Test short form resulted in a 1.08-fold increase (both, p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our study has shown that students' sleep quality was predicted to be lower if they stayed in a dormitory and skipped breakfast. In addition, Internet and smartphone addictions have a negative effect on sleep quality and academic performance.

Neighborhood deprivation and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents: Mediated by parenting styles and moderated by relative family status

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown that neighborhood and family have a crucial impact on adolescent mental health. However, limited research has been conducted on the intersection between neighborhood and family and the mechanisms behind its influence. This study investigates the direct and indirect associations between neighborhood deprivation and adolescent depressive symptoms through parental responsiveness and demandingness. The heterogeneity of neighborhood effects, varying across different relative family statuses, is also discussed.

METHODS

Using a sample (n = 6775) from the two waves of the China Education Panel Survey, this study used moderated mediation analysis to analyze simultaneously the mediation roles of parental responsiveness and demandingness and the moderating effect of relative family status.

RESULTS

Neighborhood deprivation (W1) was positively associated with adolescent depressive symptoms (W2). Parental responsiveness (W2) rather than demandingness (W2) partially mediated the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and adolescent depression. Additionally, relative family status moderated the direct relationship between neighborhood deprivation and depression and the indirect relationship through parental responsiveness.

LIMITATIONS

First, Neighborhood deprivation in this study was self-reported. Second, relative family status was a single-item measure. Third, only family and neighborhood environments were discussed in this study. Finally, long-term changes in the mental health of adolescents in poor neighborhoods could not be captured in this study.

CONCLUSIONS

The results highlight that neighborhood deprivation and relative family status can influence adolescent mental health individually and intersectively. This study also contributes to a more nuanced understanding of parenting styles in the Chinese context.

COVID-19 Stressful Life Events and Chinese Adolescents' Mental Health: Examining Resilience, Peer Relationship, and Parenting as Moderators

The current study examines intrapersonal characteristics or factors (i.e., resilience), peer (i.e., quality of peer relationships), and family processes (i.e., parental involvement, critical comparison) as potential risk and protective factors for mental health of Chinese adolescents during COVID- 19 pandemic. A total of 504 seventh-grade students (52% boys) and their caregivers in Beijing, China completed an online survey in September 2020. Youth reported experiencing various COVID-19-related stressful life events (i.e., conflicts with parents, poor learning environment and efficiency, family financial pressure), and about 15% reported slightly elevated scores of mental health difficulties. Findings suggested personal resilience and quality of peer relationship predicted positive mental health (i.e., covitality or co-occurrence of positive psychological dispositions) and less mental health difficulties. Parent's critical comparison intensified the negative link between stressful life events and youth mental health. Implications for promoting youth mental health as schools reopen are discussed.

The association between peer rejection and behavior problems of migrant adolescents in China: A moderated mediation model of delinquent peer affiliation and parenting

Facing a stressful environment of peer rejection and discrimination, Chinese migrant adolescents are at high risk of developing behavior problems while receiving insufficient family support. In this context, the current study aimed to explore the pathway from peer rejection to adolescent behavior problems via the mediating role of delinquent peer affiliation and with the moderating roles of parental company and parental monitoring taken into consideration. A sample of 2041 migrant adolescents (46.2% female, mean age = 13.595) was drawn from the first and second waves of the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) for running a moderated mediation model. The results demonstrated that peer rejection positively predicted behavior problems through the mediator of delinquent peer affiliation (indirect effect = 0.007, 95% CI = [0.003, 0.014]). This mediating mechanism was moderated by parental company and by parental monitoring. Our study deepened the theoretical understanding and application of the general strain theory by showing how the interaction of peer stressors and parenting elements affected the behavior of migrant adolescents in a Chinese context. Further studies could pay more attention to the dynamic interplay between the family and peer systems, especially for rejected and marginalized adolescent groups. Limitations and implications for future school-based and family-based practices are also discussed.

Measuring parental involvement as parental actions in children's private music lessons in China

The purpose of this study was to establish a survey instrument to measure Chinese parents' level of actions in their children's private music classes. I adopted Fung's framework of change and human actions as the theoretical support for a model of parents' level of actions. Parents of 5- to 12-year-old children (N = 894) from 20 different provinces in China were surveyed on their level of involvement (i.e., proactivity, passivity, and avoidance) in their children's private music education. Seven factors were extracted from the exploratory factor analysis, which were then consolidated into a 3-factor solution. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an adequate model fit for the data collected from the Parents' Level of Action in Private Music Learning Scale. The results from correlation analyses revealed that (1) children's age had a direct but weak correlation with parents' proactivity and (2) parents' proactivity was positively associated with children's intention to take music lessons. The results of the repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that most Chinese parents in this study were proactively involved in their children's private music lessons. The findings from this study are consistent with the literature. Implications and recommendations are discussed, and suggestions for future research are included.

Family capital, social stratification, and access to higher education: An empirical study in mainland China

This paper employs Bourdieu's theory of capital-focusing on family cultural, social, and economic capital-to research the early-stage mechanism through which access to higher education is formed. While all three types of capital play a significant role in acquiring higher education, most studies tend to focus on just one type of capital. In recent years, domestic scholars have also analyzed in detail the family factors affecting children's access to higher education (CAHE); however, they have not yet explained the mechanism by which these factors influence CAHE, and authentic tests are rare. Therefore, based on existing research, this paper uses the theoretical concept of family capital to reveal how contemporary Chinese families affect their CAHE. This paper analyzes the relationship between family capital, social stratification, and access to higher education opportunities using an econometric model based on baseline data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2010 to 2020, with 10,318 participants, including 4,419 females and 5,899 males. The results of a binary logistic regression analysis show that the possession of family cultural and economic capital has a direct positive influence on CAHE. Children from the elite stratum often benefit more from the accumulation of family cultural capital. Moreover, although it does not form a distinct stratum, the possession of family social capital also significantly influences children's access to higher education. Driven by China's political, economic, and social environment, some children from the blue-collar stratum have a comparative advantage in terms of access to higher education. The possession of family capital is an important factor in the stratification of CAHE, and cultural capital is the most influential type of capital. Parents with a low level of education should be encouraged to become engaged in schools and communities to take professional courses in assisted learning, emotional counseling, decision-making, and voluntary service.

The association between meeting physical activity guidelines and academic performance among junior high school adolescents in China-evidence from the China education tracking survey

Purpose

To examine how well Chinese adolescents meet the physical exercise time and screen time recommendations in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2021), and the relationship between adolescents' physical exercise time, screen time and their academic performance.

Method

Daily physical exercise time, screen time and academic performance were collected from Grade 8 adolescents (n = 9,449). Academic performance included standardized scores on Chinese, Math and English tests and responses to the School Life Experience Scale.

Results

Meeting the physical activity time and screen time in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Chinese Residents was associated with adolescents' academic performance. Specifically, having at least 60 min of physical exercise per day was associated with adolescents' school life experiences compared to adolescents who did not meet the physical exercise time and screen time in the Chinese Residents' Physical Activity Guidelines. Less than 2  h of cumulative screen time per day was associated with adolescent mathematics test scores, English test scores and school life experiences. Meeting both physical exercise time and screen time to be recommended had more significant effects on adolescents' mathematics, Chinese, English and school life experiences. Meeting both the physical exercise time and screen time recommendations in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Chinese Residents was more significantly associated with boys' mathematics test scores, Chinese test scores and School life experience. Meeting both the physical exercise time and screen time requirements in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Chinese Residents had a more significant effect on School life experience for girls.

Conclusion

Physical exercise participation of at least 60 min per day and/or less than 2  h of cumulative screen time per day were both associated with adolescent academic performance. Stakeholders should actively promote adolescents to follow the Physical Activity Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2021).

Pandemic effects on the reading trajectories of deaf and hard of hearing students: a pilot analysis

It is important to understand the nature of the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had upon student learning, especially those at risk such as deaf students. The limited communication that many deaf students have at home may mean less support is available for learning remotely. Reading may be one of the areas where progress was diminished. We collected Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores in reading from deaf students in a residential school for the deaf in grades 3 to 12 every fall and spring from 2016 to 2021. A cohort-sequential approach yielded growth data (2570 observations), with 546 students measured up to 10 times each. As is typical of MAP reading achievement in grades 3 to 12, growth was steep in early grades, slowing in later grades. Students in the Alternative Curriculum performed lower and grew slower. Cohorts differed, with more recent cohorts typically having higher performance than older cohorts. Tenure had a substantial effect, suggesting that students who had been in the school for the deaf longer had higher performance compared to students who joined the school as older students. The pandemic appeared to have a strong, but diminishing effect in each semester, but this effect differed widely across demographic groups. This suggests that effects of the pandemic are neither clear nor simple for deaf students even within the same school. These findings have implications for understanding how the impact of pandemic may vary as a function of deaf students' educational experiences and other demographic factors.

How instructional leaders promote parental involvement: the Israeli case

Purpose

Instructional leadership is an educational leadership approach in which principals are regularly and actively involved in a wide range of activities aimed at improving teaching and learning. The current study sought to answer how the principal's role in promoting parental involvement is part of their instructional leadership responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 Israeli principals. Data analysis was a three-step process: sorting, coding, and categorizing.

Findings

This study revealed that principals encouraged two types of parental involvement: academic-oriented, designed to support student learning and achievement, and non-academic-oriented, designed to accomplish other goals. From the instructional leadership perspective, principals should mainly prioritize academic-oriented parental involvement. Implications and further research are discussed.

Originality/value

The question of how the role of principals in encouraging parental involvement can become a part of principals' instructional leadership has not yet been explored. The present study narrows this gap in the existing research literature.

Attitudes towards cosmetic surgery among women in China and the Netherlands

Around the world, an increasing number of people, predominantly women, are choosing to undergo cosmetic surgery—despite the associated health risks. This study aimed to promote a better cross-cultural understanding of the correlates and predictors of favorable attitudes toward cosmetic surgery among women in China (an Eastern country where cosmetic surgery is increasing most rapidly) and the Netherlands (a Western country). Questionnaire data were obtained from 763 adult women; 245 were Chinese women in China (M_age = 29.71), 265 were Chinese women in the Netherlands (M_age = 25.81), and 253 were Dutch women (M_age = 29.22). Facial appearance concerns and materialistic belief were significant predictors of favorable attitudes towards cosmetic surgery for all three cultural groups. Body appreciation was a significant positive predictor among Chinese women in both China and the Netherlands, whereas age and beauty-ideal internalization were significant positive predictors only among Chinese women in China. The findings and their implications are discussed with respect to the characteristics of Chinese culture that could explain the identified differences between Chinese and Dutch women.

Body image and acceptance of cosmetic surgery in China and the Netherlands: A qualitative study on cultural differences and similarities

There is an established relationship between acceptance of cosmetic surgery and psychological factors, including body image. However, qualitative research among diverse cultural groups is needed to provide a more fine-grained understanding of the influences on women's attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. In this study, 20 Chinese and 20 Dutch women aged 18-50 years (M_Chinese = 34.20; M_Dutch = 34.70) participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. We identified three themes that captured the factors that women perceived to foster favorable attitudes towards cosmetic surgery: (a) sociocultural pressures (e.g., normalization of cosmetic surgery, appearance-focused peers); (b) intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., beauty-ideal internalization, social comparison); and (c) benefits of beauty (e.g., attracting men, socioeconomic benefits). Conversely, two themes captured the factors perceived to reduce favorable attitudes towards cosmetic surgery: (a) intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., unconditional body acceptance, self-confidence); and (b) external considerations (e.g., health risks, financial costs). Overall, Chinese and Dutch participants shared many similarities in their opinions about what might affect cosmetic surgery consideration. The most striking cross-cultural differences concerned perceived socioeconomic benefits of beauty (mainly Chinese women) and women's conceptualization of body appreciation. This study may enable a more comprehensive understanding about the factors influencing Chinese and Dutch women's attitudes towards cosmetic surgery, and the nuances in these relationships across these cultures.

Parental attitudes toward School and Chinese Adolescents’ Academic Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model

To explore the relationships between parents’ attitudes toward school (PAS) and adolescents’ family socioeconomic status (SES), psychological suzhi, and academic performance, we investigated a total of 1319 Chinese middle school students from junior grade 1 to senior grade 3 and their parents. The psychological suzhi was self-reported by students. Family SES and PAS were rated by one of the parents of the adolescents. Academic performance was collected from the final examination at school at the end of the semester. The results showed that (1) PAS were significantly negatively correlated with family SES, psychological suzhi and its components, and academic performance. Psychological suzhi and its components were significantly positively correlated with academic performance and family SES, while adolescents’ academic performance was not significantly correlated with family SES. (2) Psychological suzhi and its components played partial mediating roles between PAS and academic performance. However, cognitive quality showed a positive effect on academic performance, similar to psychological suzhi, while individuality and adaptability showed the opposite effects. (3) Family SES played a moderating role in the direct paths from PAS to cognitive quality and academic performance. Our results suggest that it may be effective to improve adolescents’ academic performance by improving negative PAS.

School Engagement and Context: A Multilevel Analysis of Adolescents in 31 Provincial-Level Regions in China

According to ecological system theory, both the microsystem environment (home environment) and the more macrolevel environment (provincial environment) influence school engagement in adolescents. This study tests an ecological model of adolescents’ school engagement with 19,084 middle school students across 31 provincial-level regions in China. Multilevel modeling is used to predict adolescents’ school engagement (behavior, emotion, and cognition) at two levels, individual [gender and family socioeconomic status (SES)] and provincial (economy, public cultural facilities, technological industry and education). The school engagement of students varies significantly across provincial-level regions. SES positively affects the school engagement of students. Students benefit from the provincial environment when the economy is booming, public cultural facilities are adequate and education is flourishing. The development of the technology industry fails to boost students’ school engagement. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Prevalence and factors associated with experience of corporal punishment in public schools in South Africa

Background

Corporal punishment (CP) is still a common practice in schools globally. Although illegal, studies in South Africa report its continued use, but only a few have explored factors associated with school CP. Moreover, extant studies have not shown the interrelationships between explanatory factors. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with learners’ experiences, and to examine pathways to the learners’ experiences of CP at school.

Method

3743 grade 8 learners (2118 girls and 1625 boys) from 24 selected public schools in Tshwane, South Africa, enrolled in a cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating a multi-component school-based intervention to prevent intimate partner violence, and completed self-administered questionnaires. We carried out descriptive analysis, simple linear and structural equation modelling to examine factors and pathways to the learners’ experience of CP at school.

Results

About 52% of learners had experienced CP at school in the last 6 months. It was higher among boys compared to girls. Experience of CP at school amongst learners was associated with learner behavior, home environment, and school environment. Learners from households with low-socio economic status (SES) had an increased risk of CP experience at school. Amongst boys, low family SES status was associated with a negative home environment and had a direct negative impact on a learner’s mental health, directly associated with misbehavior.

Conclusion

CP in public schools in South Africa continues despite legislation prohibiting its use. While addressing learner behaviour is critical, evidence-based interventions addressing home and school environment are needed to change the culture among teachers of using corporal punishment to discipline adolescents and inculcate one that promotes positive discipline.

Parental Involvement in Adolescents' Learning and Academic Achievement: Cross-lagged Effect and Mediation of Academic Engagement

Parental involvement in adolescents' learning has been linked to high academic achievement, yet few studies have examined its reverse relationship at the same time and the potential mechanisms that underly these associations. To address this research gap, this study investigated the reciprocal relationship between parental involvement and academic achievement as well as the mediating role of adolescents' academic engagement among Chinese adolescents. In addition, the current study explored whether these relationships varied by gender. Using a longitudinal design, a total of 2381 secondary school students (48.8% girls, Mage = 13.38 ± 0.59) participated in the study. The results found significant positive directional effects from academic achievement to parental involvement among total sample, but not vice versa. The cross-lagged effect from academic achievement to parental involvement only existed among adolescent girls. Bootstrap analyses in the total sample revealed that parental involvement was related to academic achievement through the indirect effects of adolescents' behavioral engagement. In terms of gender differences, behavioral engagement totally mediated the path from academic achievement to parental involvement for boys, while no significant mediation effect was found for girls. These results have provided empirical evidence of the evocative role of adolescents' academic characteristics on parenting behaviors and the double-edged effect of parental involvement on adolescents' academic performance, they also suggest that further research is needed to explore effective and appropriate ways for parents to get involved in adolescents' learning in order to promote their children's academic achievement.

Cultural Capital as Class Strength and Gendered Educational Choices of Chinese Female Students in the United Kingdom

The present qualitative study analyzes how cultural capital, gender, class, and family involvement impact Chinese female students’ aspirations of studying in the United Kingdom. We investigated how these factors facilitate or limit female students’ choice of study destination, as well as choices of subject and program. Data were gathered through participant observation and semi-structured interviews in a British university. A total of 25 young Chinese female students from different subject areas took part in the semi-structured interviews. Out of those, five students are undergraduates, 11 are taught master’s students, and the other nine students are doctoral candidates. Most of the undergraduates and postgraduates are from middle-class families, while some of the Ph.D. students are from working-class families. The results of the content analysis were examined in light of gender and cultural capital theory. It was found that although there exist differences within the middle-class families regarding the possession of cultural capital, many female students from middle-class families obtained high levels of cultural capital, and these students usually internalized the idea of pursuing a place in the United Kingdom’s tertiary education system as a way of enhancing women’s competency in future job markets. Furthermore, compared with working-class students, many respondents’ choice of subject and program was highly gendered, as their families expect them to live a feminine life by choosing “appropriate” feminine subjects. Therefore, despite having the privilege to study abroad, female middle-class students’ educational choices are still constrained by gender and class.

School-related pressure and parental support as predictors of change in student stress levels from early to middle adolescence

INTRODUCTION

One major stressor of adolescents relates to the pressure students perceive from their parents accompanied by high academic expectations, while in contrast parental support is related to low levels of stress. However, it is not clear whether the perceived parental pressure and support contribute to a change in students' stress level from early to middle adolescence and if there are differences among students from low vs. high track schools.

METHODS

Thus, based on the conservation of resources theory, this two-wave study examined the role of perceived maternal and paternal pressure and support for students' general stress level from grades 8 to 9 among students attending high- and low-track schools by applying multigroup multilevel latent change modeling based on data from 1088 8^th grade students (M_Age = 13.70, SD = 0.53, 53.9% girls at Time 1).

RESULTS

Results indicate that the general stress level from early to middle adolescence increases for students from low-track schools only. This change increases even more if students from lowtrack schools perceive pressure from their fathers, whereas perceived paternal support dampen the increase of stress. For students from high-track schools, perceived maternal pressure is positively and maternal support negatively related to students' stress level in grade 8. Overall, boys tend to report lower stress levels compared to girls.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of the present study support the conservation of resources theory, as both perceived support and pressure from parents and the educational context predict students' stress development during adolescence.

Concerted Cultivation and Adolescent Psychopathology over Time-Mediation of Parent-Child Conflict

BACKGROUND

Concerted cultivation is a parenting strategy that parents nurture their children intensively by involving heavily in their children's academic sphere as well as offering them different structured "enrichment" activities so that their children can succeed in the future competitive "rug rat race". While this parenting strategy has been regarded as an effective strategy to promote child and adolescent development, it is deemed to create stress and anxiety for their children. The present study examined the relationship between concerted cultivation and adolescent psychopathology (indexed by depression and anxiety) via parent-child conflict among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong over time.

METHOD

A sample of 1570 young adolescents (48.5% girls, mean age at time 1 = 12.6, SD = 0.76) were recruited from 19 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Adolescents were invited to fill out a questionnaire that contained measures of concerted cultivation, parent-child conflict, anxiety and depression in two consecutive years.

RESULTS

Results from structural equation modeling showed that higher levels of paternal concerted cultivation were associated with higher levels of adolescent psychopathology via increased father-child conflict over time. However, maternal concerted cultivation was linked to greater mother-child conflict but reduced father-child conflict, which was associated with adolescent psychopathology.

DISCUSSION

Rather than regarding concerted cultivation as an effective parenting strategy that promotes adolescent development, the findings indicated that concerted cultivation increased adolescent psychopathology via increased parent-child conflict. The study sheds new light for family practitioners and educators in their awareness of the adverse effects of concerted cultivation and designing appropriate parent education programs for parents.

How parental socioeconomic status contribute to children's sports participation in China: A cross-sectional study

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an important factor contributing to health inequality. This study aimed to investigate factors that predict junior school students' sports participation, identify the mechanisms underlying transmission of social resources and assess the mediating effects of classmate support and parental involvement on the relationship between parental SES and children's sports participation. 4829 males and 4536 females (mean age = 13.56 years, standard deviation = 0.686 years) participated in the study. Multivariate regression was adopted to analyze the determinants of junior school students' sports participation and multiple mediation analyses were used to analyze the hypothesized model. The results indicated that parental SES is significantly and directly correlated with junior school students' sports participation. In addition, parental SES has a significant indirect effect on sports participation through classmate support and parental involvement. Furthermore, the mediation effect of classmate support on the association between parental SES and sports participation is stronger than that of parental involvement. To promote and facilitate the participation of junior school students', strategies should be developed by government and social workers to strengthen classmate support and parental involvement.

Family socio-economic status and children's academic achievement: The different roles of parental academic involvement and subjective social mobility

BACKGROUND

Low family socio-economic status (SES) is usually associated with children's poor academic achievement, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are less understood.

AIMS

The present study examined the mediating role of parental academic involvement and the moderating role of parental subjective social mobility in this relationship with cross-sectional data.

SAMPLE AND METHODS

A total of 815 fourth- to sixth-grade children were recruited from five elementary schools in China. Family SES (measured by parents' education, parents' occupation and family income) and parental subjective social mobility were obtained directly from parents, parental academic involvement was reported by children, and information on children's academic achievement was collected from their teachers.

RESULTS

The results showed that (1) both family SES and parental academic involvement were positively correlated with children's Chinese and math achievement, (2) parental academic involvement mediated the relationships between family SES and children's Chinese and math achievement, and (3) parental subjective social mobility moderated the path from family SES to parental academic involvement. The models of children's Chinese and math achievement showed that the association between family SES and parental academic involvement was weak among children's parents who reported high levels of subjective social mobility.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that there is a pathway from family SES to children's academic achievement through parental academic involvement and that this pathway is dependent on the level of parental subjective social mobility.

Overweight and Obesity Impair Academic Performance in Adolescence: A National Cohort Study of 10,279 Adolescents in China

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the associations of overweight and obesity (ov/ob) and changes in weight status with academic performance among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

Self-reported weight and height were collected from adolescents (n = 10,279) each year from seventh grade (baseline, 2013-2014) to ninth grade (2015-2016). Academic performance included standardized scores on math, Chinese, and English examinations and responses to a school-life experience scale.

RESULTS

All adolescents with ov/ob had lower academic performance than their counterparts without overweight (β = -0.46 to -0.08; P < 0.05), except for school-life experience for boys. All adolescents with obesity had lower academic performance than their counterparts without obesity (β = -0.46 to -0.17; P < 0.01), except for English test scores for boys. Changes in weight status between grades 7 and 9 impacted academic performance at grade 9. Adolescents with ov/ob throughout grades 7 to 9 and those who developed ov/ob from normal weight had lower test scores (β = -0.80 to -0.25; P < 0.05) than those who maintained normal weight. Those who developed ov/ob after having normal weight had poorer school-life experiences (β = -0.55 to -0.25; P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Ov/ob and maintaining and developing ov/ob had adverse academic impacts on adolescents. Relevant stakeholders should consider detrimental impacts of obesity on academic outcomes.

Psychosocial Well-Being of School-Aged Children Born to Bereaved (Shidu) Families: Associations with Mothers' Quality of Life and Involvement Behaviors

Parents who lost their only child in the 12 May 2018 Wenchuan earthquake came to be known as the “shidu” (loss of an only child) parents. After the earthquake, they were beneficiaries of free reproductive health services, and most had another child. This study focuses on the psychosocial well-being of those children born to the shidu parents, and explores factors associated with mothers’ quality of life (QoL) and their involvement with their children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two primary schools in Wenchuan County. A sample of 192 families was analyzed (147 non-shidu and 45 shidu). The statistical analyses indicated that the children of shidu families had poorer peer relationships than children of non-shidu families. Moreover, shidu mothers’ expectations of their children’s achievements were significantly lower than for non-shidu mothers, but there was no statistically significant difference in the QoL between them. Additionally, a higher home-based involvement of mothers was found to be moderately associated with peer relationship problems of children in shidu families. Therefore, we suggest a future research focus on developing joint activities for parents and children that help to increase emotional communication for the psychosocial development of children in shidu families after disasters in China.