Differential impacts of social support on mental health: A comparison study of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and their urban counterparts in Beijing,China
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online February, 2017
Differential impacts of social support on mental health: A comparison study of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and their urban counterparts in Beijing,China
The number of internal migrant children in China has reached 35.8 million by the end of 2010. Previous studies revealed inconsistent findings regarding the mental health status of rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, as well as the impact of peer, teacher and parental support on the mental health of Chinese adolescent migrants.
Aims:
Using a comparative approach, this study attempted to compare the mental health status between migrant and urban-born adolescents and to clarify the specific roles of different sources of social support in the mental health of migrant and urban adolescents.
Method:
A cross-sectional survey using a cluster convenience sampling strategy was performed in Beijing, China. A structured questionnaire was filled out by 368 rural-to-urban migrant adolescents and 325 urban-born adolescents.
Results:
A significant difference was found only for positive affect (PA) but not for negative affect (NA) between the two groups, favouring the urban-born adolescents. Social support from all the three sources were all predictive of PA among rural-to-urban migrant adolescents, while only peer support contributed to PA among urban-born adolescents. Unexpectedly, teachers’ support contributed to an increase in NA among urban-born adolescents.
Conclusion:
The findings contribute to understanding of the mental health status of migrant adolescents in China and the differential impact of the various sources of social support on migrant and urban-born adolescents. Also the findings may inform the development of mental health services and programmes that can potentially benefit a large number of internal migrant adolescents in China.
All-China Women’s Federation. (2013, May10). The study of the conditions of left-behind children in rural China and migrant children in cities. The People’s Net. Retrieved from http://acwf.people.com.cn/n/2013/0510/c99013-21437965.html
2.
AltinyelkenH. K. (2009a). Educational challenges of internal migrant girls: A case study among primary school children in Turkey. Research in Comparative and International Education, 4, 211–228.
3.
AltinyelkenH. K. (2009b). Migration and self-esteem: A qualitative study among internal migrant girls in Turkey. Adolescence, 44, 149–163.
4.
AuA. M.WongA. S.LaiM. K.ChanC. C. H. (2011). Empathy, coping, social support, and mental health in local and migrant adolescents in Beijing. International Journal on Disability and Human Development, 10, 173–178.
5.
BeanR. A.BushK. R.McKenryP. C.WilsonS. M. (2003). The impact of parental support, behavioral control, and psychological control on the academic achievement and self-esteem of African American and European American adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18, 523–541.
CaoY.LiuZ. (2015). Poverty and health: Children of rural-to-urban migrant workers in Beijing, China. Social Indicators Research, 123, 459–477.
9.
ChenL.SuS.LiX.TamC. C.LinD. (2014). Perceived discrimination, schooling arrangements and psychological adjustments of rural-to-urban migrant children in Beijing, China. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 2, 713–722.
10.
CheungN. W. (2014). Social stress, locality of social ties and mental well-being: The case of rural migrant adolescents in urban China. Health & Place, 27, 142–154.
11.
CheungN. W. T. (2013). Rural-to-urban migrant adolescents in Guangzhou, China: Psychological health, victimization, and local and trans-local ties. Social Science & Medicine, 93, 121–129.
12.
ChuP. S.SaucierD. A.HafnerE. (2010). Meta-analysis of the relationships between social support and well-being in children and adolescents. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29, 624–645.
13.
ColarossiL. G.EcclesJ. S. (2003). Differential effects of support providers on adolescents’ mental health. Social Work Research, 27, 19–30.
14.
De MolaC. L.StanojevicS.RuizP.GilmanR. H.SmeethL.MirandaJ. J. (2012). The effect of rural-to-urban migration on social capital and common mental disorders: PERU MIGRANT study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47, 967–973.
15.
DubowE. F.UllmanD. G. (1989). Assessing social support in elementary school children: The survey of children’s social support. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 52–64.
16.
FangL.SunR. C.YuenM. (2016). Acculturation, economic stress, social relationships and school satisfaction among migrant children in urban China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17, 507–531.
17.
FergusS.ZimmermanM. A. (2005). Adolescent resilience: A framework for understanding healthy development in the face of risk. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 399–419.
18.
FranklinC. G.KimJ. S.RyanT. N.KellyM. S.MontgomeryK. L. (2012). Teacher involvement in school mental health interventions: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 973–982.
19.
GaoQ.LiH.ZouH.CrossW.BianR.LiuY. (2015). The mental health of children of migrant workers in Beijing: The protective role of public school attendance. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 56, 384–390.
20.
HanJ. (2004). Survey report on the state of compulsory education among migrant children in Beijing. Chinese Education and Society, 37, 29–55.
21.
HeG. H. (2009). Sense of Inferiority during socialization of migrant children in China. Journal of School Mental Health Education, 11, 4–7.
22.
HernandoÁ.NunesC.Cruz TorresC.LemosI.ValadasS. (2013). A comparative study on the health and well-being of adolescent immigrants in Spain and Portugal. Saúde e Sociedade, 22, 342–350.
23.
HuH.LuS.HuangC.-C. (2014). The psychological and behavioral outcomes of migrant and left-behind children in China. Children and Youth Services Review, 46, 1–10.
24.
JiaX.LiuX. (2016). Perceived discrimination and antisocial behaviour among Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents: Mediating effects of social support. International Journal of Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1002/ijop.12280
25.
JirapramukpitakT.AbasM.HarphamT.PrinceM. (2011). Rural–urban migration and experience of childhood abuse in the Young Thai population. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 607–615.
26.
KrahlW.HashimA. (1998). Psychiatric disorders in ASEAN-migrants in Malaysia – A university hospital experience. Medical Journal of Malaysia, 53, 232–238.
27.
KlineR. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
28.
LaurentJ.CatanzaroS. J.JoinerT. E.JrRudolphK. D.PotterK. I.LambertS.… GathrightT. (1999). A measure of positive and negative affect for children: Scale development and preliminary validation. Psychological Assessment, 11, 326–338.
29.
LiL.WangH.-M.YeX.-J.JiangM. M.LouQ. Y.HeskethT. (2007). The mental health status of Chinese rural–urban migrant workers. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42, 716–722.
30.
LiuX.ZhaoJ. (2016). Chinese migrant adolescents’ perceived discrimination and psychological well-being: The moderating roles of group identity and the type of school. PLoS ONE, 11, e0146559.
31.
LutharS. S.CicchettiD. (2000). The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 857–885.
32.
MaoZ.-H.ZhaoX.-D. (2012). The effects of social connections on self-rated physical and mental health among internal migrant and local adolescents in Shanghai, China. BMC Public Health, 12, 1.
33.
OppedalB.RøysambE. (2004). Mental health, life stress and social support among young Norwegian adolescents with immigrant and host national background. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 45, 131–144.
34.
ReschlyA. L.HuebnerE. S.AppletonJ. J.AntaramianS. (2008). Engagement as flourishing: The contribution of positive emotions and coping to adolescents’ engagement at school and with learning. Psychology in the Schools, 45(5), 419–431.
35.
RichardsM.BowersM.LazickiT.KrallD.JacobsA. K. (2008). Caregiver involvement in the intensive mental health program: Influence on changes in child functioning. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17, 241–252.
36.
RuegerS. Y.MaleckiC. K. (2011). Effects of stress, attributional style and perceived parental support on depressive symptoms in early adolescence: A prospective analysis. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40, 347–359.
37.
Stanton-SalazarR. D.SpinaS. U. (2005). Adolescent peer networks as a context for social and emotional support. Youth & Society, 36, 379–417.
38.
SunX.ChenM.ChanK. L. (2016). A meta-analysis of the impacts of internal migration on child health outcomes in China. BMC Public Health, 16, 1.
39.
TanJ. B.YatesS. (2011). Academic expectations as sources of stress in Asian students. Social Psychology of Education, 14, 389–407.
40.
WongD. F. K. (2008). Differential impacts of stressful life events and social support on the mental health of mainland Chinese immigrant and local youth in Hong Kong: A resilience perspective. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 236–252.
41.
WongD. F. K.ChangY.HeX.WuQ. (2010). The protective functions of relationships, social support and self-esteem in the life satisfaction of children of migrant workers in Shanghai, China. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 56, 143–157.
42.
WongD. F. K.LeungG. (2008). The functions of social support in the mental health of male and female migrant workers in China. Health & Social Work, 33, 275–285.
43.
WuQ.LuD.KangM. (2015). Social capital and the mental health of children in rural China with different experiences of parental migration. Social Science & Medicine, 132, 270–277.
44.
WuQ.TsangB.MingH. (2014). Social capital, family support, resilience and educational outcomes of Chinese migrant children. British Journal of Social Work, 44, 636–656.
45.
YadamaG. N.SherradenM. (1996). Effects of assets on attitudes and behaviors: Advance test of a social policy proposal. Social Work Research, 20, 3–11.
46.
YiC.-C.WuC.-I.ChangY.-H.ChangM.-Y. (2009). The psychological well-being of Taiwanese youth school versus family context from early to late adolescence. International Sociology, 24, 397–429.
47.
YuanX.FangX.LiuY.HouS.LinX. (2013). Development of urban adaptation and social identity of migrant children in China: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37, 354–365.
48.
ZhangD.LuoY. (2016). Social exclusion and the hidden curriculum: The schooling experiences of Chinese rural migrant children in an urban public school. British Journal of Educational Studies, 64, 215–234.
49.
ZhongB.-L.LiuT.-B.HuangJ.-X.FungH. H.ChanS. S. M.ConwellY.ChiuH. F. K. (2016). Acculturative stress of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers: A qualitative study. PLoS ONE, 11, E0157530.
