Effects of parental migration on Chinese children's mental health: mediating roles of social support from different sources

Despite the literature on children's mental health in the context of migration is expanding, little is known about the mechanism by which parental migration may affect children's mental health. This study investigated which sources of social support may mediate the effects of parental migration. Using a multistage probability strategy to obtain a representative sample of school-aged children in Western China, the sample included 1892 respondents. Ordinary least squares regressions were applied to estimate the associations between caregiving arrangements/the length of parental migration and children's mental health. The mediating effects of social support in the above-mentioned relationships were examined using the product-of-coefficient method with bootstrapping resampling. Leaving children alone with no caregiver significantly increased children's risk of being depressed. Compared with those with non-migrant parents, children whose parents had migrated one to 5 years were less likely to have flourishing mental health. Social support from the family, teachers and peers all served as mediators between parental migration and children's mental health but showed different mediating mechanisms. The results highlighted significant variations in left-behind children's mental health caused by distinct left-behind experiences and levels of support. The findings provide implications for designing social service programs in family and school settings.