Prevalence of Mental Health Problems and Associated Risk Factors among Rural-to-Urban Migrant Children in Guangzhou, China

Jun Wang, Ke Liu, Jing Zheng, Jiali Liu and Liming You
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Jun Wang: School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou 510080, China
Ke Liu: School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou 510080, China
Jing Zheng: School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou 510080, China
Jiali Liu: School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou 510080, China
Liming You: School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Rd, Guangzhou 510080, China

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Rural-to-urban migration, which has achieved a huge scale during China’s economic reform, is a potential risk factor for the mental health of migrant children. To test this hypothesis, this study assessed the mental health status of rural-to-urban migrant children. Guided by Andersen’s behavioral model, the study explored the risk factors associated with mental health. The study recruited 1182 fifth/sixth-grade children from four private and four public primary schools in Guangzhou in 2014 in a descriptive cross-sectional design. Mental health status was measured by the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Predisposing characteristics including demographics (e.g., age, gender), social structure (e.g., education, occupation) and health beliefs (health attitude) were recorded. Enabling characteristics including family and community resources and the need for health services were analyzed to explore the risk factors. The results indicate that more rural-to-urban migrant children were classified in the abnormal (21.0%) or borderline (18.8%) categories based on the total difficulties scores, the proportions of which were much higher than those of local children (9.8% abnormal, 13.8% borderline). Factors associated with a greater likelihood of mental health problems included single-parent families, seeking health information actively, family income cannot meet basic needs and poor perceived health status. Compared with the local children, the rural-to-urban migrant children had relatively poor mental health, hence monitoring and supporting mental health for rural-urban migrant children is critical.

Keywords: migrant children; mental health; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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