The Relationship Between Parent Care And Personal Well-being Of Left-behind Children:the Moderating Effect Of Friendship Support

Since the reform and opening up,China’s economy has developed rapidly,while the gap between rich and poor has widened significantly.Some parents choose to go out to work for the sake of improving their family condition or better development.However,due to a series of restrictions,they can only leave their children in the care of others,resulting in a large number of Left-behind children.The living conditions and physical and mental health of Left-behind children are the focus of attention in today’s society.Parent care refers to the care given by parents in the process of children’s physical and mental growth.Personal well-being refers to the psychological state in which positive emotions dominate the evaluation of individual’s quality of life according to their own internalization criteria.It includes three components: positive emotion,negative emotion and life satisfaction.This study aims to explore the mechanism of parent care on the personal well-being of Left-behind children by comparing Left-behind children with Non-left-behind children.At the same time,friendship support variables are introduced to explore whether friendship support can compensate and protect Left-behind children who lack parent care.The questionnaire method was used in this study,using the Parent Care Questionnaire,Positive and Negative Emotion Scale,Life Satisfaction Scale and Friendship Quality Questionnaire to survey the students of four middle schools from Shaoyang,Huaihua,Hangzhou and Wuhan.1314 valid questionnaires were collected,of which 616 were Left-behind children and 698 were Non-left-behind children.Statistical analysis methods such as independent sample t test,correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used.The results of this study are as follows:(1)There are significant differences between Left-behind children and Non-left-behind children in parent care,positive emotion,negative emotion,life satisfaction and friendship support.(2)The negative emotion of Left-behind children differ significantly in grade and gender.The life satisfaction of Left-behind children differ significantly in economic status and father’s education level.(3)Parent care is positively correlated with positive emotion and life satisfaction of Left-behind children,and negatively correlated with negative emotion of Left-behind children.(4)Conflict resolution strategy has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between parent care and life satisfaction of Left-behind children.Friendship support has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between parent care and positive/negative emotion of Left-behind children.Conclusion: Parent care is closely related to the personal well-being of Left-behind children.Conflict resolution strategy in friendship support can alleviate the negative impact of lack of parent care on the life satisfaction of Left-behind children.