Loneliness Among Left-behind Children And Its Relationship With Perceived Social Support And Resilience

Objective: Based on the ecological model of psychological development of left-behind children,this study aims to examine the occurrence and development characteristics of loneliness from a longitudinal perspective.Then,explore the differences in the internal mechanism of the development of loneliness between left-behind and non-left-behind children from a comparative perspective,so as to test the applicability of the ecological model.Method: This study includes two sub-studies:In Study 1,Analysis of the current situation and development trajectory of left-behind children’s loneliness.In this study,to explore the development and change trend of loneliness of left-behind children,a longitudinal design was adopted to conduct three follow-up tests on left-behind children for a period of one year in middle schools and primary schools in Xuzhou and Yancheng of Jiangsu Province.The proportion of left-behind children in these schools is relatively high.The three samples were 1868,1157 and 1006 people respectively,and the study selected 982 people whose data were effectively collected in the three times.In Study 2,Research on the influence mechanism of left-behind children’s loneliness: A cross-lagged model.Based on a comparative perspective,a longitudinal research design was adopted to conduct three follow-up tests for a period of one year in same schools in Xuzhou and Yancheng as Study 1.To explore the influence mechanism of left-behind children’s perceived social support and resilience on loneliness,and to compare with non-left-behind children.The three samples were1605,889 and 814,respectively.A total of 789 people,including 473 left-behind children and 316 non-left-behind children,were selected for the study.Results:(1)The results of latent growth model showed that the loneliness of left-behind children increased significantly at three time points,specifically,it increased first,and then decreased slightly.The load factors of the slope were 0,1 and0.4 from T1 to T3,respectively.In addition,the intercept variation was significant,but the variation of slope was not significant.Finally,there was no significant correlation between intercept and slope.In the prediction of loneliness trajectory intercept,grade and left-behind status did not reach the significant level,while the frequency of contact with parents had a significant positive predictive effect.Meanwhile,grade played a significant positive role in predicting loneliness trajectory slope,but the predictive effect of left-behind status and the frequency of contact with parents did not significant.(2)The results of the cross-lagged model showed that: In left-behind and non-left-behind children,the model fitted well.Next,longitudinal relationship of the main research variables is shown as follows:(a)In both left-behind and non-left-behind children,the three main variables can significantly predict the next time point of the same variables.(b)In the left-behind group,loneliness and resilience have a cross-time interaction relationship,also,loneliness and resilience have a cross-time unidirectional predictive relationship for perceived social support.In non-left-behind group,loneliness and perceived social support can predict each other across time,while resilience has unidirectional predictive relationship with loneliness.(c)The pathways of the non-left-behind group did not include the mediating effect,and only one significant mediating pathway was found in the left-behind group.Loneliness at T1 significantly negatively predicted resilience at T2,then significantly positively predicted perceived social support at T3,and the mediating effect was0.0121.Conclusions:(1)The overall trend of loneliness of left-behind children was increasing,specifically,the curve of loneliness increased first and then decreased slightly.There was individual difference in the initial level of loneliness,while the slope of trajectory was not different among individuals.Grade could predict the slope of loneliness trajectory,but had no effect on the initial level of loneliness trajectory.On the contrary,the frequency of contact with parents could predict the initial level of loneliness trajectory,but had no influence on slope.Left-behind status had no effect on both the initial level and the slope of loneliness.(2)In the left-behind group,loneliness was a risk factor of resilience and perceived social support,meanwhile,resilience was a protective factor of loneliness and perceived social support.In the group of non-left-behind children,loneliness was a risk factor for perceived social support,while perceived social support and resilience were protective factors for loneliness.(3)Comparing the cross-lag model of left-behind and non-left-behind children,it is found that loneliness has a more profound risk among left-behind children,which can reduce children’s perceived social support by damaging their resilience.