Subjective well-being among left-behind children in rural China: The role of ecological assets and individual strength

Abstract

Background: The plight of left-behind children affected by parental migration has aroused widespread public concern in China. However, limited research has been conducted on the positive aspects of the development (e.g., subjective well-being) among left-behind children. Recently, a new means to investigating the mechanisms of positive development in left-behind children emerged from the positive youth development (PYD) approach. Grounded in the framework of PYD, this study was designed to examine how ecological assets (i.e., neighbourhood social cohesion and trusting relationships with caregivers) and individual strength (i.e., resilience) predict subjective well-being among left-behind children.

Methods: Altogether, 1,449 left-behind children (50.70% boys; M_age = 12.11 years, SD = 1.84) were recruited to complete questionnaires designed to assess perceived neighbourhood social cohesion, trusting relationships with caregivers, resilience, and subjective well-being.

Results: The results show that neighbourhood social cohesion and trusting relationships with caregivers positively predicted left-behind children's subjective well-being. Moreover, structural equation modelling results reveal that resilience partially mediated the effect of neighbourhood social cohesion and trusting relationships with caregivers on subjective well-being.

Conclusions: In this research, we identified key contextual and personal enablers for subjective well-being among left-behind children. The results provide some important implications regarding the manner in which subjective well-being can be promoted among left-behind children by increasing neighbourhood and family ecological assets and enhancing resilience.

Keywords: left-behind children; neighbourhood social cohesion; resilience; subjective well-being; trusting relationship.