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Purpose: This article examines the curriculum and pedagogy of place for migrant children in China and advocates the recognition of migrant families' and communities' knowledge as necessary, relevant, and impactful curriculum. Design/Approach/Methods: This article is based on a longitudinal qualitative study conducted in various migrant settlements in Beijing. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with migrant parents, teachers, and community activists and participant observations in schools, community meetings, and other gatherings in the communities. Data were coded on themes related to place-based connection, attachment, and belonging and then analyzed. Findings: Findings demonstrate that pedagogical practices can be developed to re-center the knowledge and experiences of Chinese migrant communities. This pedagogical work recognizes and reflects the undervalued and unrecognized knowledge of migrant communities while investigating the meaning of "place" for migrant children. Originality/Value: This is the first study putting special emphasis on the discussion of what "place" means for migrants and what knowledge is worthwhile for their children in China. A key contribution of this article is that it documents the challenges and benefits of creating a place-based curriculum and pedagogy for migrant children as they construct a sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Parent-child relationship is critical for children's well-being. In China, the large number of left-behind children (LBC, one or both parents leaving for work for at least 6 months) raises public concern. Although LBC often report poor mental health status and higher alienation towards parents, the dynamic trend of subjective well-being in this population, as well as the prediction of alienation towards parents on LBC's subjective well-being, remain unrevealed. This study aimed to examine the dynamic trend of subjective well-being in Chinese LBC and further explore the predictional influence of alienation towards parents, with resilience as a potential mediator. Methods: We recruited 916 rural LBC in China and investigated them at five waves (baseline, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months later) using Inventory of Alienation towards Parents (IAP), Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents (RSCA) and Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS). We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) for analysis. Results: At baseline, no significant differences were found in the scores of alienation towards parents, resilience, and subjective well-being on gender, grade, or type of LBC. A significant correlation existed between the scores of alienation towards parents, resilience, and subjective well-being. HLM showed a linear increase in the subjective well-being of rural LBC. Alienation toward both mother and father negatively predicted the developmental trajectory of children's subjective well-being over 12 months. Moreover, resilience partially mediated this prediction. Conclusion: This study is among the first to reveal that alienation towards parents predicts the developmental trajectory of later LBC's subjective well-being, with resilience as a mediator. These findings warrant the necessity of paying attention to alienation toward parents to ensure the mental health of LBC, giving valuable guidance to parents, schools and governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the predictive impact of parental care deficit on left-behind children's incidence of depression and the influencing factors involved, our study employed the Parental Care Deficit Questionnaire, the Self-Doubt Scale, the Depressed Mood Scale, and the Friendship Quality Scale. A total of 593 left-behind children, with an average age of 13.8 years, were surveyed. The study found that parental care deficit significantly and positively predicted depression. Self-doubt played a partial mediating role in the relationship between parental care deficit and depression; friendship quality moderated the relationship between parental care deficit and self-doubt. When friendship quality was high, parental care deficit's effect on self-doubt was enhanced, leading to higher levels of depression. This study uncovers the internal mechanisms through which parental care deficit impacts depression in left-behind children. On one hand, parental care deprivation directly affects left-behind children's depression; on the other hand, it indirectly affects depression through self-doubt. Finally, friendship quality moderates the association between parental care deficit and self-doubt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing prevalence of grandparenting has drawn attention to the effects of this alternative childcare arrangement on children's growth. For Chinese migrant worker families, grandparents are the primary caregivers for the left-behind children. This article examines the factors that contribute to the dominance of grandparenting in these families, highlighting the challenges faced by rural left-behind children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractTo examine the association between electronic media exposure and parental language input, Language Environment Analysis technology was used to collect data on electronic media exposure and parental language input in 158 peri-urban and rural households with children aged 18–24 months in southwestern China. The sounds children made and the sounds they heard were quantified. Multiple linear regression and quantile linear regression were used to determine the relationship between electronic media and the outcomes of interest. The results showed that each hour of electronic media exposure was associated with reduced conversational turn count (p < .05) and child vocalization count (p < .05). A large share of the reduction was driven by the higher quantile of children. Reductions associated with electronic exposure were also observed in number of segments and conversational turns. These results may help explain the association between child electronic media exposure and language delay in an under-studied and at-risk population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing prevalence of depression among children and adolescents, understanding the role of peer contagion in the spread of emotional distress is a critical area of research. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of classmates' depression on a rural child's own depression in China (aged 9–17, N = 1777). The study controls for possible endogeneity of peer effects through the instrumental variable method (the Wald F statistic is significant at the 1% level) and random class assignment data (all students and teachers are randomly assigned to classes).The results indicate that when the average depression score of a rural child's classmates increases by 1 point, that child's own depression score is likely to increase by 0.345 points (p value <.01).This study further finds that the contagion of depression among classmates is more severe for girls and children who play online games, and less severe for children who are cheerful and good-humored. Online games may be an important mechanism through which peer effects operate. Children's classmates' negative emotions are found to increase the occurrence of the children's internalizing behavior in online games, in turn increasing the occurrence of negative emotions in these children themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing a probability sample of 1,985 middle school students from Guizhou Province, China, this study aims to explore the association between different patterns of parental migration and fear of crime among adolescents in rural China. Nested OLS regression analyses revealed that compared to adolescents who live with both parents, adolescents experiencing dual-parent migration reported a heightened fear of crime. However, adolescents with only their mother or father migrating did not exhibit any difference in fear of crime compared to those who lived with their parents. Being female, younger, having experienced crime victimization, perceiving greater family economic pressure, and perceiving greater neighborhood disorder and weaker collective efficacy also elevated crime fear. Findings from this study highlight the acute vulnerability of adolescents experiencing dual-parent migration and urge more targeted social support for this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Left-behind children" are a pronounced social issue in China. Colossal attention has been paid to left-behind children in Chinese rural areas. However, as its economy advanced, the issue also surfaced in urban areas. Compared with their rural counterparts, urban left-behind children face more complicated psychological challenges and social pressures, which have the potential to negatively affect their physical and mental growth as well as their future social integration. This article focuses on delineating the special characteristics of urban left-behind children and looking into the issues confronting them and the factors contributing to their predicament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in the total fertility rate (TFR) is a key driver of population change and has important implications for population health and social development. However, China's TFR has been a considerable controversy due to a lack of high-quality data. Therefore, this study used the 2020 national population census of China (NPCC) data and reverse survival method to reassess temporal trends in the TFRs and to reexamine rural–urban differences and regional variations in TFRs from 2000 to 2020 in China. Overall, there were significant gaps between the estimated and reported TFRs before 2020, and the estimated TFRs based on the 2020 NPCC data remained higher than the reported TFRs from government statistics. Although TFRs rebounded shortly in the years after the two-child policy, they have shown a wavelike decline since 2010. Additionally, the estimated TFRs fluctuated below 1.5 children per woman in urban areas compared to above 1.8 in rural areas, but the rural–urban differences continued to decrease. Regarding geographic regional variations, the estimated TFRs in all regions displayed a declining trend during 2010–2020, especially in rural areas. Large decreases of over 25% in TFRs occurred in the north, east, central, and northwest regions. In addition to changing the birth policy, the government and society should adopt comprehensive strategies, including reducing the costs of marriage, childbearing, and child education, as well as promoting work-family balance, to encourage and increase fertility levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rapid economic growth in China since 1978, rural-urban inequality has widened. High levels of socioeconomic inequality can have profound implications for child development and lifelong educational equity. Using a dataset containing early childhood development (ECD) outcomes of 0- to 3-year-olds (N = 9,053) from study sites in Eastern, Central, and Western China, the study finds that the risks of cognitive, language, and motor delay are, respectively, 43.2, 18.3, and 20.7 percentage points higher in rural study sites than in urban Shanghai (ps <.01). Impact evaluation of cluster-randomized experiments shows that parental training (focusing on child psychosocial stimulation and caregiver-child interaction) can improve parenting beliefs and practices (or investments) and ECD outcomes of disadvantaged rural children (p<.01). Such programs can play an important role in advancing progress toward more social equality and economic equity, the stated goals of China's "Common Prosperity" policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood interventions played a critical role in improving child development in impoverished contexts. Combined nutrition and psychosocial stimulation interventions (CNPSI) have shown more benefits than stand-alone supplemental nutrition interventions (SNI) in many developing countries. Based on a cluster randomized controlled trial in rural northwestern China, this study tested alternative theory-driven hypotheses regarding how primary caregiver's education and family income may moderate the CNPSI's effects on child growth environment and developmental delay risk. The trial cluster randomized 1,566 children aged 7–33 months from 111 villages (clusters) in Huachi County, Gansu Province, into an SNI group (N = 852) and a CNPSI group (N = 714). Multilevel regression models suggested that the CNPSI group had better home growth environment (p < 0·001) and lower risk of developmental delay (p < 0·001) than the SNI group. The CNPSI's impacts on home growth environment and development delay were weaker for parents with higher education levels. However, household income did not significantly moderate the CNPSI effect for either outcome. Future interventions need to attend to the educational disparities in the resource-poor context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant studies have deployed variable-centered methods to examine predictors of children's nutritional status, and few focus on the double burden of malnutrition among young Chinese children. This paper adopts a person-centered approach and leverages data from large samples of Chinese families (the China Health and Nutrition Survey, CHNS 2004–2015, and China Family Panel Studies, CFPS 2010–2018) to examine trends in the prevalence of stunting, overweight, and stuntingoverweight in early childhood. We developed a hierarchical structure of socioeconomic indicators, including region (Eastern-Central-Western), urbanicity (urban-rural), and family socioeconomic status gradient (four quartiles). We assessed relative risks for malnutrition for 24 subgroups of children from varying socioeconomic strata. Results indicate that the prevalence of stunting decreased consistently while the prevalence of being overweight increased first, followed by a decreasing trend. Moreover, a small group of stuntedoverweight children (4.7%) was identified. Data from the CHNS indicated that children from affluent families in the Central region were prone to being overweight. Data from the CFPS indicate that underprivileged groups (children from poor rural families living in Western China) were at higher risk for both undernutrition and overnutrition than their more advantaged peers. The findings suggest that children in poor, rural areas in Western China should be targeted for malnutrition alleviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Pneumococcal Diseases (PDs) remains a serious public health problem around the world and in China. Pneumococcal vaccination is the most cost-effective measure to prevent PDs. In 2021, the government of Weifang City, Shandong Province, China introduced a free dose of domestic 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV 13) to vaccinate registered children aged 6 months–2 years. This study aimed to evaluate the vaccination rate of PCV13 in children aged under 5 years before and after the vaccination program to provide evidences for further improving the prevention and control strategy for PDs. We collected data from the children's vaccination information management system in Weifang City and analyzed the PCV13 vaccination coverage and characteristics in all vaccination clinics of Weifang City for children aged under 5 years. We compared the differences in vaccination rates by gender, birth year, manufacturer, and county before and after innovative immunization strategy. Among the included 593,784 children aged under 5 years, the PCV13 vaccination rate in Weifang was generally low before the innovative immunization strategy. Urban children had a higher PCV13 coverage than rural children (P < 0.001), and parents tended to vaccinate their children with imported PCV13.The full vaccination rate for domestic and imported PCV13 was 0.67 % and 1.70 %, respectively. After the vaccination program, the PCV13 coverage of children increased significantly in all counties within Weifang City (P < 0.001), especially for children above 12 months of age. Most parents preferred to vaccinate their children with domestic PCV13, and the full vaccination rate of domestic and imported PCV13 was 6.59 % and 0.16 %, respectively. The vaccination rate of PCV13 in children is still much lower than the global average, posting a severe health challenge that needs to be addressed thoroughly. To improve the prevention and control strategy for PDs, it is recommended to continue to explore other relevant incentives based on the innovative immunization strategy. Furthermore, it is also recommended that China should incorporate PCV13 into the National Immunization Programs (NIP) as soon as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have fully discussed the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and achievement, but few of them regarded urban–rural differences as the moderating factor, which is an essential issue in urban–rural educational equalization in terms of educational outcomes. This study discusses the urban–rural heterogeneous effect of family SES on achievement and manifests the mediating role of education-related cultural factors. Based on the China Education Panel Survey data of 18,672 junior high school students, this study found the following: (1) family SES had a weaker positive effect among rural children than among urban children; (2) the urban–rural heterogeneous effect could be mediated by education-related cultural factors, i.e., learning environments and beliefs; and (3) in this regard, contemporary China is experiencing cultural reproduction rather than a cultural mobility mode. In Conclusion, although the urban–rural achievement gap will be maintained or even expanded in China, improving rural children's learning environments and beliefs opens up the possibility of alleviating disadvantages in achievement resulting from family socioeconomic disadvantages. Therefore, narrowing down the urban–rural achievement gap from a cultural perspective provides policy implications for educational development in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has tremendously reshaped the landscape of education worldwide, shifting digital learning from a substitute to a possible necessity in a time of uncertainty. This study explored the digital learning experience for children in China during and after the lockdown periods from February 2020 to January 2022, with a particular focus on the urban–rural divide. Forty‐eight semi‐structured interviews were conducted with fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students, parents and teachers to obtain multiple perspectives regarding children's digital learning in YY County in southwestern China. This study revealed that the urban–rural digital divide is not rooted in differences in minimal access to digital devices per se but rather in meaningful access to make full use of those devices for extended learning purposes. The major barriers that give rise to the digital divide include teachers' technology challenges, internet addiction among children and a lack of parental supervision of children's digital use. However, digital learning also offers an opportunity to address educational inequality. This study calls for empowering rural teachers and parents to better support children's digital needs and boost their digital learning experience. Well‐designed virtual interventions, school‐ and community‐based programmes and policy interventions are potential solutions to address the needs of rural teachers, parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growing up on traditional farms protects children from the development of asthma and allergies. However, we have identified distinct asthma‐protective factors, such as poultry exposure. This study aims to examine the biological effect of rural exposure in China. Methods: We recruited 67 rural children (7.4 ± 0.9 years) and 79 urban children (6.8 ± 0.6 years). Depending on the personal history of exposure to domestic poultry (DP), rural children were further divided into those with DP exposure (DP+, n = 30) and those without (DP−, n = 37). Blood samples were collected to assess differential cell counts and expression of immune‐related genes. Dust samples were collected from poultry stables inside rural households. In vivo activities of nasal administration of DP dust extracts were tested in an ovalbumin‐induced asthma model. Results: There was a stepwise increase in the percentage of eosinophils (%) from rural DP+ children (median = 1.65, IQR = [1.28, 3.75]) to rural DP− children (3.40, [1.70, 6.50]; DP+ vs. DP−, p =.087) and to the highest of their urban counterparts (4.00, [2.00, 7.25]; urban vs. DP+, p =.017). Similarly, rural children exhibited reduced mRNA expression of immune markers, both at baseline and following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Whereas LPS stimulation induced increased secretion of Th1 and proinflammatory cytokines in rural DP+ children compared to rural DP− children and urban children. Bronchoalveolar lavage of mice with intranasal instillation of dust extracts from DP household showed a significant decrease in eosinophils as compared to those of control mice (p <.05). Furthermore, DP dust strongly inhibited gene expression of Th2 signature cytokines and induced IL‐17 expression in the murine asthma model. Conclusions: Immune responses of rural children were dampened compared to urban children and those exposed to DP had further downregulated immune responsiveness. DP dust extracts ameliorated Th2‐driven allergic airway inflammation in mice. Determining active protective components in the rural environment may provide directions for the development of primary prevention of asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Programmes based on social emotional learning (SEL) have been effective in reducing psychosocial difficulties in a number of countries. In Mainland China, there has been no empirical research on the prevention of children's psychosocial difficulties using the SEL approach. This study aimed to assess whether an adapted version of the SEL programme can reduce psychosocial difficulties of primary school children in rural China. The intervention consisted of 16 weekly 90‐min class sessions, conducted among 206 children aged 8–12 years (with 290 controls) in a poor rural area of Central China. Self‐report questionnaires were administered at baseline, post‐intervention and 5‐month follow‐up. The results suggested that the programme (1) can reduce children's total difficulties (measured using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire) at post‐intervention (d = −0.18) and 5‐month follow‐up (d = −0.19), (2) was more effective among children experiencing verbal abuse (d = −0.21) or physical abuse (d = −0.24) from caregivers and (3) was popular among more than 90% of the participants. The programme is cheap, easy to implement and can be delivered in school hours. Therefore, it has clear potential for replicability and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Findings: This study examined how family socioeconomic status and home environment may help explain the indirect relationship between parental migration status and rural Chinese children's holistic development. A total of 198 preschool-age children and their primary caregivers were recruited from three rural preschools in Jiangsu Province in China. The results indicated that parental migration was negatively associated with family socioeconomic status. When the family's socioeconomic background is low, the less favorable and stimulating home environment the family can provide for children, resulting in detrimental effects on the child's development. The findings not only provide support for the family system theory to explain the relationship between parental migration and child development, but also reveal family socioeconomic status and home environment as potential sequential pathways. Practice or Policy: The study calls for attention to children's development in rural China, considering the complexity of the parental migration status. The findings can facilitate rural parent education in the context of rural education revitalization. Primary caregivers in rural areas should become aware of the critical value of a family's structural and process factors, adjust their parenting attitudes and behaviors, create a positive home environment for the child, and eventually align to reduce the risk factors and enhance the well-being of rural children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding others' thoughts and feelings is a social-cognitive capacity known as the theory of mind (ToM). Previous studies have attempted to explore children's ToM from a specific domain (personal or moral) while lacking comprehensive evidence across domains. Based on the social domain theory, the present study is the first in our knowledge to explore the developmental characteristics of the ToM within different domains of left-behind preschoolers in rural China. This study used a mixed experimental design of 3 (age groups: 4-, 5-, 6-year-old) × 2 (left-behind status: left-behind, non-left-behind) × 3 (domain types: moral, conventional, personal) with 231 rural children aged 4–6 years, combined with a story–question approach to explore the developmental characteristics of their ToM in moral, conventional, and personal domains through tasks, such as rule awareness and false beliefs. The results showed significant main effects of age group, left-behind status, and domain type. Moreover, the interaction effect of age group and domain type was significant. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) The developmental level of the ToM in moral, conventional, and personal domains of rural preschoolers increased with age and the older preschoolers had a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the ToM in each domain; (2) The experience of being left behind was detrimental to the development of preschoolers' ToM in each domain; (3) There were differences in children's development in the moral-, conventional-, and personal-related ToM tasks, with the personal domain ToM developing more slowly; (4) The younger preschoolers showed a clear differentiation between the domains of ToM, with a higher level of development in domains of morality and convention. As preschoolers get older, their performance in the domains becomes more comparable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of rural preschool education (RPE) is not only related to the healthy growth of rural preschool children, but also to social fairness and sustainable development. Therefore, the development of RPE not only involves the expansion of quantity, but also the improvement of its quality. At present, in China's RPE, the determination of value goals There are still many obstacles in terms of source supply, institutional mechanism construction, development mode selection, and external environment construction, which make the high-quality development of RPE lack good internal motivation and external support. In view of this situation, some researchers have begun to explore the high-quality and sustainable development of RPE differently. However, the high-quality development of RPE is a systematic reform project that needs to start from the present. From multiple perspectives such as reality and history, internal and external education, this paper examines the systematic and global nature of RPE reform and development. The development level evaluation of RPE is a MADM. In this paper, the generalized weighted Bonferroni mean (GWBM) decision operator and power average (PA) is designed to manage the MADM under single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs). Then, the generalized single-valued neutrosophic number power WBM (GSVNNPWBM) decision operator is constructed and the MADM model are constructed based on GSVNNPWBM decision operator. Finally, a decision example for development level evaluation of RPE and some useful comparative studies were constructed to verify the GSVNNPWBM decision operator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sense of coherence has significant implications for the mental health of left-behind children in rural China. This study was conducted to explore the impact of physical exercise and social support on sense of coherence in rural left-behind children. A survey was conducted among 964 rural left-behind children in Hunan Province of China aged 10–15 (Mage = 12.01 ± 1.97 years; 529 girls and 435 boys). AMOS 21.0 software was applied to build the model and perform cross-lagged analysis. Physical exercise and social support in left-behind children predict each other, and physical exercise can positively predict social support and sense of coherence in left-behind children two months later (P < 0.05); social support can significantly positively predict sense of coherence in left-behind children two months later (P < 0.05). Both physical exercise and social support have an impact on sense of coherence in left-behind children, and physical exercise can affect sense of coherence in left-behind children through the mediating effect of social support. • Physical exercise has a positive impact on sense of coherence of rural left-behind children. • Social support has a positive impact on sense of coherence of rural left-behind children. • Physical exercise has a positive impact on social support of rural left-behind children. • Social support plays a partial mediating role between physical exercise and sense of coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the current status and main factors of loneliness among rural left-behind children. We conducted a survey of 812 rural left-behind children in China using the Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the Children's Loneliness Scale, the Social Anxiety Scale for Children, the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, and the Piers-Harris Child Self-Concept Scale. Results showed that (a) 66.26% had a sense of loneliness; (b) there were correlations between loneliness and 7 sociodemographic variables, social anxiety, self-esteem, and self-concept; (c) grade, age, parental separation duration, contact frequency with parents, social anxiety, self-esteem, and self-concept were the main factors influencing the level of loneliness among rural left-behind children. Recommendations for parents and teachers are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a collection of abstracts from various presentations and studies related to psychology and education. The topics covered include metacognition and executive functions in mathematical learning, the role of school psychologists, cognitive and social factors in language learning and school performance, home environment and early language development, attention as a predictor of school performance, mental processes and academic performance, international orientation and language learning strategy use, challenges faced by school psychologists, self-definition and learning profiles in schoolchildren, autonomous career motivation, and pupils' linguistic abilities. The abstracts provide insight into ongoing research and discussions in the field. Additionally, the document includes studies on the effect of social support on the acculturation of rural migrant children in China, the relationship between school engagement and self-regulation among Russian adolescents, the motives for choosing further education and professional identity of Russian teenagers, and the background and future goals of school counselors in public schools in Japan. These studies contribute to our understanding of various aspects of psychology and education and highlight the importance of factors such as social support, self-regulation, motivations, and professional support in promoting positive experiences and outcomes for individuals in educational settings. [Extracted from the article]

School feeding programs have served as go‐to policies for addressing child malnutrition in both developed and developing countries. While an increasing number of studies have investigated the health consequences of school feeding programs, empirical evidence regarding their effects on children's health inequality remains limited. This study examines the impact of China's Nutrition Improvement Program (NIP)—A program that provides free meals for rural students at the compulsory education stage—on rural children's health status and urban–rural health status differentials. The analysis uses data from the 2004–2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Leveraging county‐by‐county rollouts of the program, we employ difference‐in‐differences approaches as our identification strategy. The results show that the NIP significantly improves children's height‐for‐age z‐scores by 0.136 standard deviations. Moreover, we find that the NIP alleviates the inequality of opportunity in health between urban and rural children by 21.6% in pilot counties. These findings are robust to a series of validity checks. The effect is more pronounced among students who have a younger age, and live in low social status families. Our findings suggest that school feeding programs are effective in decreasing child malnutrition levels and reducing urban‐rural inequality in the long run. [EconLit citations: I10, I18, D63]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although the importance of sexuality education has been recognized, Chinese rural students have limited access to sexual and reproductive information. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a standardized comprehensive sexuality education curriculum package featuring cartoon animation on sexuality‐related knowledge and skills, attitudes, and practices of primary school students. Methods: This quasi‐experimental study recruited 1725 students in grades 4–6 (aged 9–13) from eight primary schools sampled as school clusters in 2020 in China. Internet‐based questionnaires from three intervention schools' participants were collected after trained schoolteachers had conducted six 45‐min sexuality education sessions. We performed optimal full matching and treatment effects were estimated in the matched sample by outcome regression models that further adjusted the covariates. Results: Compared with the control group, intervention group students achieved significantly higher scores by 3.35 out of 38 and 2.02 out of 34 in knowledge‐ and skill‐based tests and attitudinal tests, respectively. For the five self‐reported practices on genital care, the experimental group showed significantly better performance than the control group in genital hygiene, by 6.92%, 22.45%, and 30.66% higher rates in the overall prevalence of three proper practices of genital hygiene, with effect sizes larger for boys than girls. Conclusions: Our sexuality education package effectively improved primary school students' sexuality‐related knowledge, skills, attitudes, and hygiene practices. Our study suggests that the standardized curriculum package could be a promising approach to improving the quality and accessibility of sexuality education in underdeveloped rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of education on income has been debated in recent years. We use the China Health and Nutrition Survey database to research the relationship between education upward mobility and income upward mobility. We find education upward mobility has a positive effect on income upward mobility. The intergenerational psychological distance which is a measure of the difference between parents' and children's conceptualizations, parents' social capital, and children's gender all have effects on this relationship. To be specific, the positive effect is reinforced by a certain amount of intergenerational psychological distance, but is negated by an excessive amount of intergenerational psychological distance. Besides, education upward mobility actively increases the income upward mobility of rural-dwelling children whose parents lack social capital, i.e., education is a key factor that improves the income of children from rural families. In contrast, education upward mobility only actively increases the income upward mobility of urban-dwelling children whose parents have social capital. In addition, the positive effect of education on children's income is more evident in boys than in girls. These findings greatly advance our understanding of the beneficial effects of education on the income, and will assist improvements to be made in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children living in rural areas may potentially experience low levels of life satisfaction and face challenges in developing self-confidence. The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of a mental health education intervention on the life satisfaction and self-confidence of children residing in rural areas of China. A total of 1,001 children from grades 4 to 6 were randomly assigned to an intervention group (475 children, 250 boys, M = 11.57 years, SD = 1.082 years) and a control group (526 children, 279 boys, M = 11.38 years, SD = 0.980 years). Over 16 weeks, the intervention group received a mental health education program, while the control group did not. The levels of life satisfaction (including five dimensions: family, school, environmental, friends, and selfsatisfaction) and self-confidence (including three dimensions: self-efficacy, selfassurance, and self-competence) were rated by all children at baseline and postintervention. Results from paired samples t-test showed that post-intervention, the intervention group exhibited significant improvements in the areas of family, environmental, school, and self-satisfaction as well as self-efficacy, selfassurance, and self-competence. However, there was no significant improvement in friend satisfaction. Conversely, the control group showed decreases in school, environmental, and friend satisfaction, along with decreases in self-efficacy, selfassurance, and self-competence. No significant change was observed in family and self-satisfaction in this group. These findings emphasize the importance of implementing mental health education interventions for rural children, who are at risk for low life satisfaction and self-confidence. Some specific recommendations are provided for policymakers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the widespread use of smartphones in daily life, smartphone dependency has become a global problem, especially among adolescents. Existing research studies have supported the association between smartphone dependency and the mental health of Chinese rural adolescents, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Objective: The present study used a survey to test whether smartphone dependency may be associated with mental health in Chinese rural adolescents. The mediating role of cognitive failure and parent--child relationship was also examined. Materials and methods: In total, 941 adolescents (45.91% male; mean age = 14.05, SD = 1.04) in rural areas ofmainland China were recruited to complete four scales, including the Mobile Phone Dependence Scale (MPDS), Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ), Family Adaption and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES), and Mental Health of Middle School Students Scale. Results: The results showed that both cognitive failure and parent--child relationship acted asmediators in the e [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left-behind children are one of the main issues in China's child welfare services. The change in the family environment has destroyed these children's original levels of resilience. Hence social service and support from social organizations are needed. The study examines the impact of different types of social support social organizations provide to enhance the resilience of left-behind children in rural China. Types of social support analyzed include material, mental, informational, behavioral, and social interaction support. Data was collected from 384 rural left-behind children using a pre-coded questionnaire. Respondents were randomly selected from Guangxi, China in 2022. They had an average age of 12.781 years, with 45.83% male and 54.17% female. Multiple linear regression was used to conduct an empirical analysis of the different types of social support provided by social organizations. The results found that material, mental, informational, and behavioral support provided by social organizations had significant effects on the resilience of rural left-behind children in China. Further research should be conducted on the importance of providing material, mental, informational, and behavioral support to left-behind children to better help improve their resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Caregiver's language richness plays a supporting role on early child development. • Caregiver's language richness works better for boys and poverty households. • Caregiver language suitability has moderated effects. • Parent-child interaction videos were coded for language richness and suitability. There is rich literature on the predictive role of the caregiver's language richness in child development outcomes during caregiver-child interaction. However, it is unclear whether this is true in rural China, where many young children are still not developing to their fullest potential. Our study supplements the current evidence in rural China by answering three questions. First, is the rural caregiver's language richness associated with child development outcomes? Second, do different child characteristics, caregiver characteristics, and household poverty status affect the relationship between caregiver language richness and early child development outcomes? Third, does the caregiver's language suitability moderate the association between language richness and child development outcomes? We observed and recorded 10-minute-long videos of 591 rural children aged 6–30 months and their primary caregiver dyads in a free toy play session and collected their social-demographic information. Trained coders coded videotaped interactions to obtain measurements of the caregiver's language richness and suitability. Children were assessed for cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development. A multivariate linear regression model adjusted for covariates was used to estimate the association between the caregiver's language richness and child development outcomes. Interaction terms were then added to the adjusted model to explore the moderating role of caregivers' language suitability, child characteristics, caregiver characteristics, and household poverty status. The caregiver's language richness is positively associated with the child's cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development. The association is more pronounced for children who are boys, in later toddlerhood, or from registered poverty households. In addition, we found that the caregiver's language suitability could enhance the association between language richness and child development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners have recently aimed to identify the factors that foster students' reading enjoyment and reading for pleasure. This study aimed to examine the family's impact on children's emotional and motivational outcomes specifically in the domain of reading. First, we explored the differences in children's reading-related outcomes between children residing in rural, suburban, and urban areas of a city in China. Second, we examined the association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children's reading behavioral intention and explored the mediating roles of home literacy environment (HLE) and children's reading-related emotions. A sample of 7,214 primary students residing in different areas of a city in China completed self-report questionnaires regarding family SES, HLE, children's reading-related emotions, and children's reading behavioral intention. The results showed reading gaps associated with different geographic areas. With an increase in the urbanization level of children's place of residence (rural, suburban, or urban), children's reading boredom decreased while children's reading enjoyment and reading intention increased. As for the relations between the main variables, the results showed that the influence of family SES on children's reading intention was mediated by HLE and reading-related emotions. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications to facilitate children's enjoyment and behavioral intention in reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration not only represents geographical movements of residence but also plays an important role in the well-being of migrants and their children. This study is one of the first to empirically examine the cognitive and noncognitive consequences of children's internal migration in China. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), the present study investigated the associations and possible mechanisms of internal migration with cognitive test scores and the Big Five personality traits among migrant and left-behind children. The results demonstrated that migrant children had significantly higher levels of cognitive skills and the Big Five noncognitive skills compared to their left-behind peers. The findings remained robust to a battery of validity checks. Further, the disparities in cognitive and noncognitive development between migrant and left-behind children were more prominent for children who were non-boarders, only-child in a household, and had a rural hukou. In addition, the mechanism analysis in this study suggested that parental supervision and peer relationship are two important pathways underlying the associations of internal migration with children's cognitive and noncognitive outcomes. Our study highlights the importance of reducing institutional constraints on migration, implementing evidence-based interventions aiming to avoid involuntary parent–child separation, and facilitating the development of disadvantaged children during the process of internal migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive function (EF) and receptive language ability play an important role in the relationship between household chaos and social withdrawal. Young children are neglected in household chaos research and suffer from the negative outcomes of households in China. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between household chaos and social withdrawal in young Chinese children and the chain mediating effect of EF and receptive language ability. This study included 922 preschool-age children (62.58 ± 8.03 months) and their primary caregivers and their teachers were recruited from 21 rural preschools in Guangdong Province in China. Our results show a positive direct effect of household chaos and social withdrawal. Furthermore, an indirect sequential effect of household chaos and social withdrawal on EF and receptive language ability was found. Our findings (a) highlight the significance of paying more attention to household chaos and revealing a better understanding of the effect of EF and receptive language ability on households at an early age and (b) indicate that interventions should be provided to improve the home environment when children are young. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Large and substantial variation in home language environment quality in peri-urban China. • 25% of children aged 18-24 months show signs of language delay. • Strong correlation between home language environment and child language development. • Quality of home language environment is worse in peri-urban than rural China. • Household resources, maternal employment, and child gender correlate to home language environment measures. Parental investment in the home language environment during the earliest years is a critical predictor of early language development. Because most studies investigating the home language environment and child language development have been conducted in Western, high-income, and developed settings, less is known about such environments in low- or middle-income settings. This study was conducted in a peri-urban area in Southwestern China in a sample of 81 rural migrant and urbanized farmer families with children aged 18-24 months. The home language environment was measured using Language Environment Analysis (LENA) recorders and software, while early language development was measured using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories expressive vocabulary scale. Findings reveal large and substantial variation in the sample's home language environments and a strong association between the home language environment and child language development. Certain demographic characteristics, such as household resources, maternal employment, and gender, are associated with the home language environment. These findings highlight the needs for interventions specifically targeting the home language environment to improve early language development of young children and for more research on early childhood development in peri-urban China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, taking the middle-aged and elderly parents in rural families of China as the subject, studies the impact of children's education on parents' dietary nutrient intake. After analyzing the data in China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) 2011, this study discovers that China's rural children's higher educational level exerts a significant positive impact on the improvement of parents' food consumption, nutrient intake and diet quality. This indicates that the improvement of rural education can be an effective approach to increase dietary nutrient intake of China's rural population. The policy implication of this study is to further develop rural basic education, consolidate the coverage of compulsory education, and incorporate nutrition education into national education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown mixed findings on the link between production diversity and household dietary diversity. The question is whether this link holds for children. In this study we examine the relationship between household's agricultural production diversity and child dietary diversity, and between production diversity and child nutritional status. Smallholder farm households (n = 1067) and children (n = 1067) aged 3–16 years from two then nationally designated poverty counties in Gansu Province of China were interviewed in 2019. Production diversity was assessed with the production richness score and production diversity score. Production diversity was calculated from agricultural production data covering a period of 12 months. Child dietary diversity was assessed with food variety score (FVS) and dietary diversity score (DDS). DDS was calculated based on 9 food groups using a 30-day recall method. Data were analysed using Poisson and Probit regression models. We find that both agricultural production richness score and revenue generated from selling agricultural products are positively associated with food variety score, with the relationship being stronger for the latter. Moreover, production diversity score is positively associated with children's dietary diversity score whereas negatively associated with their probability of being stunted, but not with their probabilities of being wasted or zinc deficient. Household social economics status were also positively associated with child dietary diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the study is to investigate the interactive influence of depression on left-behind (LB) and non-left-behind (NLB) children from the perspective of peer effects. The roles of teachers, parents, and friends are also explored. Methods: Data on 1817 children, 1817 parents, and 55 teachers were obtained from a field survey in December 2021. All students in the sample were randomly assigned to classrooms. A peer effect model and OLS methods were used to estimate the peer influence of depression. Robustness tests were conducted by randomly removing schools from the sample. Results: Depression was contagious among different groups of rural children, and the peer effect of the NLB children's depression played a dominant role. Both LB and NLB children were more affected by their NLB classmates' depression. LB children were not significantly affected by depression in other LB children. This conclusion remains robust after robustness testing. In addition, heterogeneity analysis showed that outgoing and cheerful teachers, effective parent–child communication and high-quality friendship all alleviated peer influence on depression. Conclusions: LB children have more severe depression than NLB children, but LB children are more affected by depression in their NLB peers. Policymakers should train teachers to engage in positive communication with students to improve mental health in children. In addition, this article recommends that children move and live with their parents when family conditions permit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggressive behaviors in early childhood may indicate future violence, so effective intervention measures should be taken on time to promote children's physical and psychological health. Based on sampling survey data from Jintang County in Sichuan Province of China, this paper analyzes the mechanism of rural children's aggressive behaviors from the perspective of peer influences and examines the role of parent involvement in it. The results show that the deeper the degree of deviant peer affiliation, the poorer the psychosocial adaptation of rural children, which is more likely to lead to aggressive behaviors. Parent involvement can effectively inhibit the aggressive behaviors of rural children arising from deviant peer affiliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 15 years in Guangdong Province, China. This serious public health issue also exists in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which have few value-integrated intervention programs. The current study presents an integrated intervention project that aims to explore an effective pattern of prevention for child drowning in rural areas and feasibility to perform in other LMICs. Methods We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial by comparing the incidence of non-fatal drowning among children in two groups in rural areas of southern China. We recruited the participants in two phases and reached a total of 10 687 students from 23 schools at two towns in Guangdong Province, China. At the first and second phases, 8966 and 1721 students were recruited, respectively. Results The final evaluation questionnaires were collected after 18 months of integrated intervention, where we obtained 9791 data from Grades 3–9. The incidence of non-fatal drowning between the intervention and control groups after intervention did not differ significantly from the baseline according to the total number of students, male students, female students and Grades 6–9 [0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): [0.66, 1.00]; p  =   0.05, 1.17; 95% CI: [0.90, 1.51]; p  =   0.25, 1.40; 95% CI: [0.97, 2.02]; p  =   0.07 and 0.97; 95% CI: [0.70, 1.34]; p  =   0.86], except for Grades 3–5 (1.36; 95% CI: [1.02, 1.82]; p  =   0.037). The study observed a significantly positive benefit of awareness and risk behaviours of non-fatal drowning between the intervention and control groups (0.27, 95% CI: [0.21, 0.33]; p  =   0.00, −0.16; 95% CI: [−0.24, −0.08]; p  =   0.00). Conclusions The integrated intervention exerted a significant impact on the prevention and management of child non-fatal drowning, especially in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyraclostrobin is one of the most prevalent strobilurin fungicides from the broad-spectrum control of fungal diseases. The ever-increasing pesticides with the active ingredient of pyraclostrobin have been put into the agroecosystem in recent years. The survival of non-targeted organisms and the by-effects on human health can be induced by pyraclostrobin biomagnification within the food web. This study aims to elaborate on the fate characteristics and risk magnitude of pyraclostrobin after large-scale application that contributed to agroecosystem sustainability and dietary rationality. The registered crops included wheat, peanut, watermelon, and cucumber in the main production areas in China. The tracing of pyraclostrobin was performed on the multiple crop matrices using the self-developed ultra-performance liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Some measurements were used to validate the specificity, linearity, matrix effect (ME), accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). LOD and LOQ were estimated to be 0.000 1 -0.000 4, and 0.001 mg/kg for the wheat grains, wheat straw, peanut kernels, peanut straw, cucumber, and watermelon matrices, respectively. The average recoveries of the target analyte ranged from 81.2% to 112.2% for all fortification levels. The precision values were associated with the analytical methods. The relative standard deviations (RSD) were 0.7% to 18.1% for the pyraclostrobin in all matrices. The fate characteristics of pyraclostrobin were elucidated using the verified storage stability. Some parameters were selected to represent the occurrence, pharmacokinetics dissipation, and terminal magnitude of pyraclostrobin, including the original depositions, half-lives, and terminal magnitude. The concentrations of pyraclostrobin were attached the maximum of <0.001, ≤0.209, ≤0.048 mg/kg 2 h after the last application in peanut kernels, cucumber and watermelon, respectively, and 0.005-0.043 mg/kg 7 d after last application in the wheat grain. Significant differences were observed in the degradation dynamics of pyraclostrobin among different crops, with T1/2 values of 1.9-4.7 d in watermelon, 2.6- 7.5 d in cucumber, and 5.9-9.9 d in wheat grain. There was no T1/2 value of peanut kernels without detecting the pyraclostrobin in any samples. The terminal level of pyraclostrobin in the wheat and peanut straws (0.187-75.291 mg/kg) was much higher than that in the edible part, including the wheat grain and peanut kernel (≤0.096 mg/kg). The long-term dietary risks of pyraclostrobin were further clarified for the population with the different regions, gender, and age using the supervised trials median residues (STMR) for the investigated crops that were recommended by the large-scale field trials. The risk quotients (RQ) were assessed as 123.959%-406.415% by the deterministic model, indicating out of the acceptable range. The risk quotients were inversely correlated to the age of the population. The children group was subjected to the greatest long-term risks of pyraclostrobin exposure from the dietary pathway. The population subgroup location in rural (RQ, 146.799%- 406.415%) suffered more serious exposures than that in urban (123.959%-374.217%). A probabilistic model was further introduced for a more accurate estimation of dietary exposure. The total chronic risks (RQ) caused by consuming wheat grain and watermelon ranged from 0.025% to 11.309% from the 50 percentile to the 99.9 percentile, far less than 100%, indicating no potential risks for the population. The unacceptable chronic risk magnitude of pyraclostrobin was determined, according to the probabilistic distribution in the residual levels of the above four crops. Anyway, the hazard effects of pyraclostrobin from dietary pathways should be emphasized in daily life, especially for rural children group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Children in rural areas have similar early learning opportunities, regardless of whether they live with both parents or are left behind in rural areas because of parental migration. • Children who migrate from rural to urban areas are more likely to be enrolled in preschool and experience more stimulating home learning environments than their peers in rural areas. • Migrant children have lower preschool enrolment rates and receive less stimulation at home than urban native children. This study considers how living arrangements among migrant families have affected young children in China and compares the early learning opportunities of urban migrant children and urban native children. We leveraged nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies (2012-2018). Participants were 4,306 three- to five-year-olds and their caregivers. They were classified into five groups, with three of them affected by migration. The sample included 1,357 children who had migrated along with their parents to urban areas; 253 children who were left-behind in rural areas with one parent; and 269 children who were left-behind in rural areas with a relative. An additional 1,595 children from non-migrant families living in rural areas and 832 urban native children served as comparison groups. After adjusting for selection bias through propensity score approaches, results indicated that, regardless of parental migration status, the early learning opportunities of children living in rural areas were similar. Migrating to urban areas was positively associated with stimulating home learning environments and the likelihood of preschool enrollment, but urban native children experienced more stimulating home learning environments and had higher preschool enrollment rates than migrant children. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing problem of childhood obesity, unhealthy dietary preferences among children have become an issue of worldwide concern. This article examines the class-peer effect of these preferences using random class assignment data from a field survey. The results show significant positive peer effects for both unhealthy food and beverages preference. These results remained robust after controlling for endogeneity issues using instrumental variables. Further analysis of the mechanism of peer effect shows that the better the relationship between classmates, the greater the influence peers have on unhealthy diet preferences among rural children. The same peer effect is found in situations where it is easy for children to obtain unhealthy food and beverages. The analysis of heterogeneity finds that the peer effects of unhealthy dietary preferences are stronger for girls, older students, and obese students. This paper also discusses the role of parents and schools in mitigating the peer effect. This paper proposes policy recommendations for rural areas in China to improve dietary preferences in children. These results may also provide useful guidelines for policy in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household food waste (HFW) accounted for about 66% of global food waste's total carbon footprints (CF). Based on China's macro-panel food consumption data, this paper measures the urban–rural and provincial differences in the HFW CF from scale, structure, and temporal-spatial evolution perspectives. The results indicate that HFW and CF continue to grow, and the total CF and per capita HFW in urban households are higher than in rural households. The structural differences between urban and rural HFW CF vary significantly over time and spaces, which reflected that rural households in the southeastern coastal areas have higher per capita HFW CF than urban in 2019. The research results help to clarify the distribution and evolution pattern of HFW CF in China and offer new ideas for the differentiated governance of CF reduction in the food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a school‐based intervention, Let's Be Friends (LBF), designed to promote the social information‐processing (SIP) skills of third‐grade children in rural China, the specific aim of this study was to assess the moderating effects of school characteristics on program outcomes. We systematically tested the moderating effects of six school‐resource variables (i.e., student–teacher ratio, school size, number of library books per student, number of computers per 100 students, percentage of teachers with middle‐ and high‐level titles, and percentage of teachers with high‐level title or "backbone" recognition) on outcomes in a controlled trial of LBF program. School resources (i.e., small school size, low student–teacher ratio, and more teachers with high‐level title or backbone) were associated with SIP skill acquisition, reduced aggressive behavior, and higher cognitive concentration. School contextual characteristics condition the impact of social‐emotional education programs in Chinese rural primary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large‐scale rural‐to‐urban migration has shaped the socialization contexts of rural adolescents in China and can potentially impact their developmental outcomes. In this study, using data from the first wave of the China Education Panel Study collected in 2013, we focused on self‐efficacy, an important but under‐studied facet of noncognitive development, and assessed how it was influenced by family migration status. We also explored the mediating role of family and school resources. We compared three groups of rural‐origin adolescents with different family migration statuses: rural left‐behind children (LBC), rural not‐left‐behind children (NLBC), and rural‐to‐urban migrant children (MC). Structural equation modeling was performed to estimate the main effects of rural‐origin groups on self‐efficacy and the mediating effects of family income, family social capital, and school social capital for the significant group effects on self‐efficacy. We found similar levels of self‐efficacy among MC and NLBC, who in turn, exhibited greater self‐efficacy than LBC. Discrepancies in family and school resources mediated the self‐efficacy gaps between LBC and their MC and NLBC counterparts. Notably, when their disadvantages in family and school resources were controlled for, LBC were more efficacious than MC and NLBC, indicating LBC's resilience and the potential for promoting self‐efficacy in LBC by providing adequate resources and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, rural children are more likely than others to experience barriers to opportunity. We propose context‐relevant family risk and protective factors for children in rural villages in one of China's poorest provinces and analyze long‐term implications for educational and mental health outcomes in early adulthood. Four proposed risk factors—low parental education, insufficient income, parental migration, and parental ill‐health—show statistically significant detrimental implications for educational attainment. Low parental education stands out, with negative estimated effects on all outcomes. Insufficient income predicts higher scores for depression but not self‐esteem. Parental migration and parental ill health have no significant relationships with mental health outcomes. Proposed protective factors– parental warmth, doing things together, and household credit limit—have positive estimated effects on educational attainment, but not on most mental health outcomes. Few interactions between protective and risk factors exist, and patterns are generally similar for girls and boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we adopt the human capital formation framework to understand the association of the various risk and protective factors in the family settings of rural children with their cognitive performance as measured by vocabulary and math test scores. We examine the role of caregiver reading or storytelling to children at younger age and the deprivation of parental care due to labor migration at different stages of childhood on child performance in vocabulary and math tests when they are over 10 years old. Our findings confirm the crucial role of parental presence in child's cognitive development both during early childhood and later ages. Extended periods of parental absence during early and later years of childhood are most pernicious for child cognitive performance. Our analysis also reveals significantly positive effect of caregiver reading and storytelling on children's vocabulary test performance. This study provides strong evidence for the benefits of programs that promote good parenting practice and caregiver involvement in child cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration's impact on Chinese rural children's psychosocial development is the subject of growing research attention. While scholars highlight the critical role of social support, they have yet to systematically examine whether and how community social capital, which provides proximal social support for families, affects rural children's psychosocial development as well as whether such associations vary by children's migration status. Using data from the child component of the 2012 Chinese Urbanization and Labor Migration Survey, this article shows that community social capital reduces children's behavioral and emotional problems; however, left‐behind children and migrant children gain less from community social capital than children with at‐home parents. In addition, left‐behind girls fare worse and gain less from community social capital than left‐behind boys. Together, these findings imply that community social capital reinforces the disadvantaged psychosocial development of rural children who experience parental migration and evidence the enduring gender inequality in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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