Work

Pre-Separation Mother–Child Relationship and Adjustment Behaviors of Young Children Left Behind in Rural China: Pathways Through Distant Mothering and Current Mother–Child Relationship Quality

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: In China, some rural parents do not live together with their children because they migrate to urban regions for work, and therefore they sometimes use a mobile phone in parenting their left-behind children (LBC), who are living with grandparents. This study used a serial mediation model to test the mediating roles of distant mothering and post-separation mother-child relationship quality in the link between recalled pre-separation mother-child relationship quality and social-emotional adjustment of 3-to-6-year-old LBC living in a rural context in China. Cross-sectional questionnaire data were collected from 185 triads, consisting of grandparents (rating child adjustment), migrant mothers (rating mother-child relationship qualities and distant mothering), and preschool teachers (rating child adjustment). The results showed that pre- and post-separation relationship qualities were positively related to each other and to positive distant mothering. There were no serial mediating effects, but a full individual mediating role of post-separation relationship quality and positive distant mothering was identified for the link between child prosocial behavior and externalizing problems, respectively. Despite the general decline in mother-child relationship quality after separation, mothers who perceived a higher quality of the pre-separation mother-child relationship showed a more cohesive relationship with their LBC, which might increase the prosocial behavior of the children. Additionally, a higher quality of the pre-separation relationship was associated with more distant mothering of positive characteristics, which went together with fewer children externalizing problems. These findings highlight the importance of a continuous high-quality mother-child bond and favorable maternal parenting practices in digital interactions for separated families.

Source: Behavioral Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/bs14121193

Authors: Ruwen Liang, Karla Van Leeuwen

Institutions: Jimei University, KU Leuven

Language: English

Topic: Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,501