Identity, Social Capital and the Psychological Well-Being of Migrant Children in Southern China (WITHDRAWN)

Background/Purpose: Migrant children have been a fast growing population in mainland China as a consequence of the large-scale rural-urban migration. Despite numerous studies that have demonstrated the effects of their migrant status as well as other social and contextual factors on their development, it is understudied in the existing literature that how the subjective identity of migrant children might have an impact, especially in modifying the effects of social capital on their psychological well-being. This study aimed to investigate 1) how social capital embedded in the family, school and community influenced the depression of Chinese migrant children; and 2) how the identity of these children played a role in moderating the effects of social capital on their depression, where identity referred to children’s perception of themselves as either a local citizen of the host community or as a citizen of their place of origin.

Methods: This study used data from a survey with 849 migrant children living in Guangzhou, a metropolis in Southern China that hosts a majority of migrant population. Depression was assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Study-Depression Scale (CES-D). Family social capital was assessed by parent-child interaction and parental monitoring. School social capital was assessed by student-teacher relationship and peer relationship. Community social capital was assessed by social cohesion and trust, informal social control and sense of belonging to the neighborhood. Identity was assessed by asking the children who they thought they were: a local citizen of Guangzhou, a citizen of their hometown, both, or neither. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized model.

Results: Social capital in family, school and community were all found to influence the depressive symptoms of migrant children significantly. Moreover, children’s subjective identity acted as an important modifier on those associations. For children who identified themselves as a local citizen of Guangzhou, school and community social capital exhibited stronger influences on their psychological well-being. Whereas for children who identified themselves as a person form their place of origin, family social capital played a more important role in their psychological well-being. Children with dual identity or confused identity (those who thought they were both or neither citizens of their host and original community) tended to be influenced by three dimensions of social capital in similar ways.

Conclusions and Implications: Social capital in multiple contexts will contribute to lower depression of migrant children in the context of rural-urban migration in China. The degree of influences of different dimensions of social capital also varies depending on the subjective identity of these migrant children. These research findings have meaningful implications for social services and intervention programs targeting this population. For children with various identities as a result of their migrant status, tailor made interventions could focus on strengthening social capital in a certain social context that is particularly influential in promoting their psychological well-being (e.g., strengthening school and community social capital for children identifying themselves as local citizens). This would enable the efficient use of resources for maximum benefits.