The Protective Effect of Social Capital on the Mental Health of Chinese Migrant Adolescents: A Resilience Perspective

Background and Purpose: The “risk and resilience” perspective is an increasingly salient framework for conceptualizing social and health problems in social work research (Fraser, Richman, & Galinsky, 1999). Recent development of this concept has suggested a paradigm shift from focusing on the adversity of an individual to examining how the strengths of an individual could be mobilized to overcome adversity and achieve personal growth (Wong & He, 2008). Consequently, it suggested putting more efforts on exploring protective factors that enhance the capacity of an individual to transcend life difficulties (Michaud, 2006). Adopting a resilience perspective, this study aims to investigate how social capital (i.e. resources inherent in social relationships that facilitate a social outcome) (Coleman, 1988) embedded in the family and the community serve as protective factors for the mental health of migrant adolescents in Shanghai, China, one of the most vulnerable populations in the urban city who experience multifaceted adversity as a result of their marginalized status. It also investigates whether the effects of social capital are moderated by poverty, one major risk factor for the mental health of migrant adolescents. Methods: Data for the study comes from a questionnaire survey with 510 4th to 9th grade migrant students as well as their parents in Shanghai. Poverty was measured by a three item poverty index reported by parents about their hardship in affording certain household expenditures. Family social capital was assessed by the frequency and quality of parent-child interactions, using the Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (Dixon, Fair, & Bernies, 2004). Community social capital was assessed by neighborhood quality and the trust and solidarity within the neighborhood, employing items used to measure this construct in previous research (Fields & Smith, 1998). Mental health was assessed by anxiety and depression, using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (Chorpita et al., 2000). Structural equation modeling (via AMOS 6.0) was employed to examine the protective effects of family and community social capital on the mental health of migrant adolescents. Results: The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data (Chi Square=345.031, df=216, p<.001, CFI=.932, RMSEA=.035). The multiple group analysis identified a significant moderating effect of poverty on the associations between social capital and the migrant adolescents' anxiety and depression, which suggested a buffering protective effect of social capital. For migrant adolescents from families of higher poverty level, family social capital showed significant effects on their anxiety and depression (Beta= -.217, p<.01); family social capital also functioned as a mediator between community social capital and the adolescents' anxiety/depression (Beta=.235, p<.05), although community social capital did not show a significant direct effect. Conclusions and Implications: This study provided support to the paradigm shift of the “risk and resilience” perspective from focusing on the risk factors to exploring the potential of protective factors for positive youth development. Practically, it suggested developing social service programs that strengthen particular domains of social contexts (i.e. family, neighborhood), thus building resiliency of migrant adolescents to overcome adversity and to promote their mental health status.