IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v163y2024ics0190740924002913.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The examination of the heterogeneous psychological impact of adverse childhood experiences on Chinese children with and without left-behind status

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Chunkai
  • Zhang, Xinwen
  • Ding, Ning
  • Xie, Kexin

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), encompassing situations like abuse, neglect, and family challenges, have a pervasive global presence and profoundly impact children’s mental well-being (MWB). This study aims to comprehensively examine these effects within the context of Chinese children and explores the potential mediating roles of social support and resilience. Additionally, the study examines whether the unique circumstance of being left behind alters these relationships. The research collected data in Yunnan Province, China and the final sample size was 775. Intriguingly, the finding revealed that direct associations between ACEs and children’s MWB were not statistically significant. However, our analysis underscores the pivotal roles played by social support and resilience in mediating the relationship between ACEs and MWB. This implies that the presence of supportive relationships and the capacity to bounce back from challenges have a considerable impact in mitigating the negative effects of ACEs on children’s mental well-being. Furthermore, this study unveils a noteworthy moderating effect of the left-behind status, notably influencing the connections between ACEs and both resilience and social support. These findings contribute to enrich our understanding of the interacting mechanism in relationship between ACEs and MWB, offering valuable insights for policymakers and social workers. The findings could guide the formulation of targeted interventions that effectively promote the mental well-being of children affected by ACEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Chunkai & Zhang, Xinwen & Ding, Ning & Xie, Kexin, 2024. "The examination of the heterogeneous psychological impact of adverse childhood experiences on Chinese children with and without left-behind status," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:163:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924002913
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107719
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740924002913
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107719?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhao, Xinyi & Fu, Fang & Zhou, Luqing, 2020. "The mediating mechanism between psychological resilience and mental health among left-behind children in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Metzler, Marilyn & Merrick, Melissa T. & Klevens, Joanne & Ports, Katie A. & Ford, Derek C., 2017. "Adverse childhood experiences and life opportunities: Shifting the narrative," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-149.
    3. Fan, Xiaoyan & Lu, Mengjia, 2020. "Testing the effect of perceived social support on left-behind children’s mental well-being in mainland China: The mediation role of resilience," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    4. Wang, Quanquan & Liu, Xia, 2020. "Stressful life events and delinquency among Chinese rural left-behind adolescents: The roles of resilience and separation duration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Zhou, Yueyue & Cheng, Yulan & Liang, Yiming & Wang, Jiazhou & Li, Changning & Du, Weijing & Liu, Yufang & Liu, Zhengkui, 2020. "Interaction status, victimization and emotional distress of left-behind children: A national survey in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tang, Wanjie & Dai, Qian & Wang, Gang & Hu, Tao & Xu, Wenjian, 2020. "Impact of parental absence on insomnia and nightmares in Chinese left-behind adolescents: A structural equation modeling analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    2. Wang, Quanquan & Liu, Xia, 2020. "Stressful life events and delinquency among Chinese rural left-behind adolescents: The roles of resilience and separation duration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    3. Stargel, Lauren E. & Easterbrooks, M. Ann, 2020. "Diversity of adverse childhood experiences among adolescent mothers and the intergenerational transmission of risk to children's behavior problems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    4. Yang, Banglin & Xiong, Cancan & Huang, Jin, 2021. "Parental emotional neglect and left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors: The mediating role of deviant peer affiliation and the moderating role of beliefs about adversity," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Kim, Youngmi & Lee, Haenim & Park, Aely, 2020. "Adverse childhood experiences, economic hardship, and obesity: Differences by gender," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Xu, Chen & Gong, Xingying & Fu, Wanyan & Xu, Yanjun & Xu, Haiyan & Chen, Wenjing & Li, Min, 2020. "The role of career adaptability and resilience in mental health problems in Chinese adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    7. Cheng, Zhiming & Guo, Liwen & Smyth, Russell & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Childhood adversity and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Trinidad, Jose Eos, 2021. "Social consequences and contexts of adverse childhood experiences," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    9. Aely Park & Youngmi Kim & Jennifer Murphy, 2023. "Adverse Childhood Experiences and Substance Use Among Korean College Students: Different by Gender?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(4), pages 1811-1825, August.
    10. Katharina Geschke & Annika Steinmetz & Andreas Fellgiebel & Alexandra Wuttke-Linnemann, 2024. "The Influence of Resilience on Caregiver Burden, Depression, and Stress in the Course of the COVID-19 Lockdowns," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.
    11. Hidalgo, Victoria & Jiménez, Lucía & Grimaldi, Víctor & Ayala-Nunes, Lara & López-Verdugo, Isabel, 2018. "The effectiveness of a child day-care program in child welfare services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 145-151.
    12. Fu, Linyun & Zhu, Yiqi, 2020. "Are rural children of work-away parents really left behind? Voices from rural teachers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. O'Leary, Donna & Christie, Alistair & Perry, Ivan J. & Khashan, Ali S, 2024. "Determinants of receiving child protection and welfare services following initial assessment: A cross-sectional study from the Republic of Ireland," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Schurer, Stefanie & Trajkovski, Kristian & Hariharan, Tara, 2019. "Understanding the mechanisms through which adverse childhood experiences affect lifetime economic outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Hickey, Grainne & McGilloway, Sinead & Leckey, Yvonne & Leavy, Shane & Stokes, Ann & O'Connor, Siobhan & Donnelly, Michael & Bywater, Tracey, 2020. "Exploring the potential utility and impact of a universal, multi-component early parenting intervention through a community-based, controlled trial," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    16. Kaija R. Stern & Zaneta M. Thayer, 2019. "Adversity in childhood and young adulthood predicts young adult depression," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(7), pages 1069-1074, September.
    17. Rostad, Whitney L. & Ports, Katie A. & Tang, Shichao, 2019. "Mothers' homeownership and children's economic success 20 years later among a sample of US citizens," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 355-359.
    18. Xiaoyan Fan, 2022. "Unpacking the Association between Family Functionality and Psychological Distress among Chinese Left-Behind Children: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Internet Addiction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
    19. Webb, Calum & Bywaters, Paul & Scourfield, Jonathan & McCartan, Claire & Bunting, Lisa & Davidson, Gavin & Morris, Kate, 2020. "Untangling child welfare inequalities and the ‘Inverse Intervention Law’ in England," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    20. Xuening Yao & Hongwei Zhang & Ruohui Zhao, 2022. "Does Trauma Exacerbate Criminal Behavior? An Exploratory Study of Child Maltreatment and Chronic Offending in a Sample of Chinese Juvenile Offenders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:163:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924002913. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.