Peer-reviewed article
Associations of parental labour migration and childhood maltreatment with psychosocial health among adolescents and young adults in China.
Yang Y, Jiang W, He Y, Wang W, Hua Y et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how parental labour migration and childhood maltreatment affect the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents and young adults in China. Among nearly 29,000 university students aged 17-24, those whose parents had migrated for work reported more psychosocial difficulties, and this effect was much worse when combined with experiences of childhood maltreatment. The study found that childhood maltreatment partly explains why parental migration harms young people's mental health, suggesting that left-behind children face particular risks when they also experience abuse or neglect.
Key points
- 41.8% of participants were male; mean age 19.87 years across 10 provinces
- Parental migration was associated with higher SDQ total difficulties scores (β = 0.16)
- Cumulative childhood maltreatment showed dose-response relationship with psychosocial difficulties (β = 0.54)
- Combined exposure to parental migration and 2+ maltreatment types produced highest difficulties (β = 1.12)
- Childhood maltreatment mediated 58.8% of the association between parental migration and psychosocial health
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study, so it cannot establish causation or the direction of effects. The study relies on self-reported data on sensitive topics like maltreatment and psychological difficulties, which may be subject to recall bias or underreporting.
Abstract
Background: Few studies have simultaneously considered the impacts of parental labour migration and childhood maltreatment on psychosocial health.Objective: To estimate the complex associations of parental labour migration and childhood maltreatment with psychosocial health among adolescents and young adults in China.Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduates aged 17 to 24 years from sixty colleges and universities across 10 provinces of China. Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, and psychosocial health was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Weighted linear mixed regression models, multiplicative interactions, and joint and mediation analyses were performed.Results: Of the 28,810 participants included (mean [SD] age, 19.87 [1.62] years), 12035 (41.8%) were male. In the fully adjusted model, participants who experienced parental migration were more likely to report higher levels of SDQ total difficulties (e.g. β = 0.16 [95% CI, 0.05 to 0.28]) compared with those with non-migrant parents. A positive association was found between the cumulative number of childhood maltreatment and SDQ total difficulties (β = 0.54 [95% CI, 0.49 to 0.60]), with a dose-response relationship observed for the levels of childhood maltreatment and SDQ total difficulties. Compared with individuals without exposure to both parental migration and childhood maltreatment, those exposed to both parental migration and at least 2 numbers of childhood maltreatment had the highest magnitude of psychosocial health difficulties (β = 1.12 [95% CI, 0.91 to 1.33]). Moreover, childhood maltreatment may partially mediate the association between parental migration and psychosocial health, with the mediation proportion being 58.8%.Conclusion: Exposure to parental labour migration or childhood maltreatment was positively associated with psychosocial health among adolescents and young adults. Parental migration and childhood maltreatment may jointly aggravate psychosocial health problems. These findings indicate the necessity of comprehensive interventions targeting adversity stressors to improve psychosocial health, especially for left-behind children experiencing maltreatment.