TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Impact of parent-child separation on children's social-emotional development: a cross-sectional study of left-behind children in poor rural areas of China
JO  - BMC public health
A1  - Shi, Huifeng
A1  - Wang, Yuanyuan
A1  - Li, Mengshi
A1  - Tan, Chang
A1  - Zhao, Chunxia
A1  - Huang, Xiaona
A1  - Dou, Yan
A1  - Duan, Xiaoqian
A1  - Du, Yufeng
A1  - Wu, Tianchen
A1  - Wang, Xiaoli
A1  - Zhang, Jingxu
SP  - e823
EP  - e823
VL  - 21
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: Parent-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. <br><br>METHODS: We 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. <br><br>RESULTS: 287 (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). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: LBC 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1471-2458
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10831-8
ID  - ref1
ER  -