Migration patterns, family functioning, and life satisfaction among migrant children in China: A mediation model

Abstract

There are three distinct patterns of migration among Chinese migrant children: whole-family, single-parentfirst, and both-parents-first migration. This study investigated the life satisfaction of children who migrated under the different migration patterns and examined the mediating role of family functioning in the relationship between the children's migration patterns and their life satisfaction. Participants consisted of migrant children (N = 703) from primary and junior middle schools in Chengdu, China. The results showed that (a) migrant children from the whole-family and single-parent-first patterns of migration reported greater life satisfaction than did those from the both-parents-first pattern, and (b) family functioning partially mediated the association between migration patterns and life satisfaction. The present study highlights the importance of avoiding separation of children from both parents during migration and the need to develop interventions for migrant children's psychological adaptation by improving their families' functioning.

Family function and life satisfaction of postgraduate medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of meaning in life and depression

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The Relationship Between Family Functioning and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…Several studies have suggested that migrant status may be a risk factor exacerbating the impact of a poor family environment (e.g., family functioning and parent–child relationship) on psychological well-being (e.g., life satisfaction), which may be attributed to environmental adaptation pressure and acculturation stress (Cheung, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2014 ; Shi et al, 2019 ). For instance, researchers have reported that poor family functioning had a more negative effect on life satisfaction in migrant children than in local-born children (Hou et al, 2009 ; Yuan et al, 2019 ). However, several other studies took the opposite view, arguing that despite the acculturative stress, migrant students had better academic performance and higher levels on a psychological well-being index than their local-born counterparts, which may be attributed to increased resilience from migration (Fan et al, 2009 ; García-Coll and Marks, 2012 ; Serap et al, 2018 ).…”

An ecological investigation of resilience among rural‐urban migrant adolescents of low socioeconomic status families in China

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