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. 2024 Jun 4;14(1):12862.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-63589-5.

Family migration and well-being of Chinese migrant workers' children

Ling Tang  1   2   3 , Xin Xiang  4 , Yang Liu  5   6
Affiliations

Family migration and well-being of Chinese migrant workers' children

Ling Tang et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

This article aims to explore the effects of parental migration on the well-being of children and how to adjust social cognitive well-being through the interrelations among family relations and social cognitive well-being indicators using structural equation modelling. Two modified social cognitive well-being models were tested in 1682 Chinese migrant workers' children to examine the pathways among social cognitive well-being and family relation characteristics. The modified models are based on the social cognitive well-being model and the characteristics of Chinese migrant workers' children. The results show that caregiver-child communication frequency, caregiver-child regulation, caregiver-child conflicts, caregiver-child trust and communication, and coactivity positively impact children's social cognitive well-being. In contrast, caregiver-child alienation negatively influences children's social cognitive factors through caregiver-child trust and communication. Additionally, this research revealed that family-related characteristics (caregiver-child regulation, caregiver-child coactivities, caregiver-child communication frequency, caregiver-child alienation, caregiver-child conflicts, and caregiver-child trust and communication) are interconnected with social cognitive well-being indicators (academic satisfaction, outcome expectations, goal progress, lifelong satisfaction, environmental support, positive affect, negative affect, and self-efficacy). This suggests that family migration and relationships with caregiver(s) can significantly affect the well-being of migrant workers' children.

Keywords: Chinese migrant workers’ children; Lifelong satisfaction; Social cognitive well-being; Vocational education and training school.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Social Cognitive Well-being Model. This figure is based on Lent’s description of the social cognitive well-being model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Family-Related Modified Social Cognitive Model I. Comm. Freq. is short for caregiver-child communication frequency in this figure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Family Relationships and Social Cognitive Model II. Trust & comm. is short for caregiver-child trust & communication, Alienation is short for caregiver-child alienation, and conflict is short for caregiver-child conflict in this figure.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Map of Areas and Cities Involved in this Research. Source: Self-made map based on resources from the Wikimedia Foundation (www.wikimedia.org; The spatial maps were generated from blank maps of China.svg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China_blank_map_grey.svg; the China Guangdong location map.svg, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:China_Guangdong_location_map.svg; and the location map China Hunan EN.svg, https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Location_map_China_Hunan_EN.svg) and edited with Meitu (https://xiuxiu.meitu.com/).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Family Relationship and Social Cognitive Model I – Path Coefficients. Communicate. Figure 5 shows the short form for caregiver-child communication frequency.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Family-Related Modified Social Cognitive Model I-Path Coefficients. Comm. Freq. Figure 6 shows the short form for caregiver-child communication frequency.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Family Relationship and Social Cognitive Model II – Path Coefficients. Trust & communica. are short for caregiver-child trust and communication, alienation is short for caregiver-child alienation, and conflict is short for caregiver-child conflict, as shown in Fig. 2.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Family Relationship and Social Cognitive Model II-Path Coefficients. Trust and comm. are short for caregiver-child trust and communication, Alienation is short for caregiver-child alienation, and conflict is short for caregiver-child conflict, as shown in Fig. 8.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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