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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1439568

The impact of parental migration patterns, timing, and duration on the health of rural Chinese children

Provisionally accepted
Feng Wang Feng Wang 1,2Ying Wang Ying Wang 3,4Shumei Liu Shumei Liu 1Linlin Cui Linlin Cui 2Feimeng Li Feimeng Li 2Xiaohe Wang Xiaohe Wang 1,2*
  • 1 Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
  • 2 Hangzhou International Urbanology Research Center & Center for Urban Governance Studies, hangzhou, China
  • 3 The First People's Hospital of Yuhang District, Hangzhou, China
  • 4 The first affiliated hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine Liangzhu Branch, hangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Parent-child separation raises concerns for the well-being of 69 million left-behind children (LBC) in China. However, the effects of parental migration status, timing of migration, and migration duration on the health of children remain unclear. This study aims to explore the association between different parent-child separation experience and a range of health outcomes in rural Chinese children.Method: A sample of 2355 students, grades 5 to 8, from two provinces in China were recruited.Standardized self-report instruments collected data on demographics, separation status, and children's health conditions.Results: Full data were available for 274 children with both parents currently migrating (BLBC), 638 children with one parent currently migrating (SLBC), 658 children with parents previously migrated (PLBC) and 785 children with non-migrating parents (NLBC). Regression model results showed that, compared to the NLBC group, BLBC and PLBC exhibited lower self-rated health (p<0.05), higher depression (p<0.05), and higher rates of non-suicidal self-injury behaviors (p<0.05) and suicidal ideation (p<0.05). Children who experienced parental separation before the age of three were at a higher risk for four health indicators. Additionally, children left behind by parents for more than 7 years had significantly worse health outcomes.Conclusions: Children who have experienced both current and previous parental migration, as well as earlier parental migration age and longer migration duration, are at a disadvantage in terms of health.These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions focusing on the most vulnerable children.

    Keywords: Parental migration, Left-behind Children, Depression, Non-suicidal self-injury, Suicidal Ideation

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Wang, Liu, Cui, Li and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xiaohe Wang, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.