Tens of millions of rural “left-behind children (LBC)” in China grow up experiencing prolonged separation from their migrant worker parents. This study aimed to explore how children are affected by parental migration, from the perspectives of children, parents, and grandparents, focusing on the experiences of prolonged parent-child separation and relationship dynamics in the extended family. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in a migrant-sending rural area of eastern China. Participants included 25 children (aged 7 to 14), 17 parents, and 13 grandparents, from 30 families, as well as 24 key informants from the communities. Data analysis followed a grounded theory approach. The results showed that despite the original purpose of benefiting children, parental migration resulted in challenges in child psychosocial well-being, due to the emotional impacts from prolonged parent-child separation. Parental absence also led to inadequate care and support for left-behind children. The negative effects of parental migration may be exacerbated by other vulnerabilities such as parents’ divorce, poverty and grandparent caregivers’ frailty. Concerns about child well-being made some migrants decide to return home permanently, because of the altered trade-offs of migration. Prolonged separation following migration often disrupts parent-child relationships and results in psychosocial difficulties in LBC, especially among those who live with multiple adversities in the family. Community-based interventions may help migrant parents and co-resident caregivers to better engage children and promote their resilience.

In China, there are an estimated 41 million left-behind children (LBC). The objective of this study was to examine the mental health of current-left-behind children (current-LBC) and previous-left-behind children (previous-LBC) as compared to never-left-behind children (never-LBC), while considering factors like parent-child communication. Children were recruited from schools in rural areas of Anhui province in eastern China. Participants completed a questionnaire focusing on migration status, mental health, and parent-child communication, measured with the validated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Parent–Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS). Full data were available for 1251 current-, 473 previous-, and 268 never-LBC in Anhui province. After adjusting for all confounding variables, the results showed that both current and previous parental migration was associated with significantly higher mental health difficulties, including aspects of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and total difficulties. Additionally, we found that difficulties communicating with parents were strongly associated with the presence of greater total difficulties in children. Parental migration has an independent, long-lasting negative effect on children. Poor parent-child communication is strongly associated with children’s mental health. These results indicate that parent–child communication is important for the development of children, and interventions are needed to improve migrant parents’ understanding and communication skills with their children.

This study aims to examine the role of parental migration status and parent communication in the psychological and related behavioral status of left-behind children and their psychological resilience. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Anhui Province of China, and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 1992 teens using the Chinese version of the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ). Compared with the never left-behind group, left behind children had relatively lower PACS, CD-RISC and SDQ scores. Absence of parents is related with poorer psychological resilience, while good parent communication is related with better psychological resilience. Better psychological resilience is related to fewer psychological problems regardless of parental migration status. Currently left-behind status demonstrated a negative influence on psychological resilience, while never left-behind status had a positive effect. Interventions are needed to enhance psychological resilience of left-behind children to prevent psychological and related behavioral problems.

Background: In China, the figure for left-behind children (LBC) of migrants stood at 68. 77 million in 2015. Despite being seen as a whole in the last few decades, LBC today differ broadly in parental migrating status. This study focused on LBC with both parents migrating (BLBC), LBC with only mothers migrating (MLBC), LBC with only fathers migrating (FLBC), and previous LBC with one or both parents migrating (PLBC), separately. We aimed at exploring the extent to which LBC were being affected by each migrant parent on both mental health and risk behaviors.Methods: Data from 4,832 children were collected by a school-based survey in both rural and urban areas of China's Anhui province. Each participant anonymously completed a self-administered questionnaire containing the sociodemographics, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the items from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), and Young's Internet Addiction Test for Chinese (YIAT-C). Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and the Chi-squared test. Associations were estimated by multiple linear regression and logistic regression analyses adjusted for several confounders.Results: The results suggested that BLBC (p < 0.001), MLBC (p < 0.05), FLBC (p < 0.01), and PLBC (p < 0.001) significantly scored higher for total difficulties along with emotional symptoms and conduct problems than never left-behind children (NLBC). Besides, BLBC, FLBC, and PLBC further reported a significantly higher rate of smoking (p < 0.001, p < 0.01, and p < 0.001, respectively) and drinking (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, and p < 0.01, respectively) than did NLBC. Also, MLBC appeared higher risks of smoking problems [OR = 2.31, 95% CI (1.45–3.69), p < 0.001] and the internet addiction [OR = 2.15, 95% CI (1.24–3.72), p < 0.01], when compared to NLBC.Conclusions: The findings provided insight into LBC within the different contexts of parental migrations and contributed to a better understanding of their specific and potentially persistent health risks. Correspondingly, the study highlighted the implications for differentiating LBC to capture the more vulnerable group and tailored interventions to prioritize.