Neglect Experiences With Academic Adjustment And Emotional Adjustment Of Left-behind Adolescents:the Role Of Grit

With a large population of adolescents left behind in China,the phenomenon of neglect is widespread and their mental health has become a focal point of national and social concern.This study used a questionnaire survey method to study 2,417 rural junior high school students,including 1,051left-behind adolescents and 1,366 non-left-behind adolescents,in three middle schools in a rural area or urban-rural combination in a city of Anhui Province,and focused on the role of grit in the neglect experience and academic and emotional adaptation of left-behind adolescents.The main findings of this study were as follows.1.compared to non-left-behind adolescents,left-behind adolescents showed more negative emotions,implicit emotional problems,and felt more emotional neglect and lack of supervision,while showing weaker grit in perseverance of effort.However,there was no significant difference between the two in terms of academic achievement,positive emotional experience,or consistency of interest.2.The higher the degree of supervisory deficits and emotional neglect experienced by the leftbehind adolescents,the lower their academic achievement and the more emotional adjustment problems and lower the degree of positive emotional experiences;the higher the degree of perseverance and consistency of interest of the left-behind adolescents,the higher their academic achievement,the higher the positive emotional experiences and the lower the emotional adjustment problems.3.Both dimensions of grit(perseverance of effort and consistency of interest)play a moderating role in the relationship between emotional neglect and implicit problems among left-behind adolescents,and both are consistent with the " protective but reactive " type,i.e.as emotional neglect increases,the protective effect of perseverance becomes weaker.The interaction between consistency of interest and emotional neglect is consistent with the vantage sensitivity model,i.e.in the positive case of low emotional neglect,high consistency of interest left-behind adolescents have fewer implicit problems than low consistency of interest left-behind adolescents.4.Consistency of interest moderates the relationship between lack of supervision and negative emotions,and between emotional neglect and positive emotions,both of which are consistent with the " protective but reactive " model,i.e.as supervision and emotional neglect increase,the protective effect of consistency of interest becomes weaker.The pattern of interaction between consistency of interest and emotional neglect is consistent with the vantage sensitivity model,i.e.in positive situations where emotional neglect is low,high consistency of interest youths have higher positive emotions than low consistency of interest youths.5.Perseverance of effort moderates the relationship between the absence of supervision and academic achievement,which is consistent with the "protective-enhancing" model,i.e.,the protective effect of perseverance of effort increases as the absence of supervision increases.The interaction between perseverance of effort and regulatory deficits was consistent with the diathesis-stress model,whereby low perseverance of effort youths had lower academic achievement than high perseverance of effort youths in the negative situation of higher regulatory deficits.The main findings of this study are as follows.1.Despite being in a disadvantaged environment,the academic performance,positive emotions and consistency of interests of the left-behind adolescents did not differ significantly from those of the non-left-behind adolescents.2.The more severe the emotional neglect and lack of supervision experienced by the left-behind adolescents,the more academic and emotional adjustment problems they exhibited,while the more resilient they were,the fewer academic and emotional adjustment problems they had.3.Overall,the moderating effect of interest consistency supports the vantage sensitivity model and the moderating effect of effort perseverance supports the diathesis stress model.In a positive environment with low neglect,high interest congruence retained adolescents were able to obtain better emotional adjustment adaptation outcomes.In a negative environment with high neglect,adolescents with low effort persistence had poorer academic adjustment outcomes.