Effect of Parental Migration on the Intellectual and Physical Development of Early School-Aged Children in Rural China

Minmin Li, Ni Zhu, Lingxia Zeng, Duolao Wang, Shaonong Dang, Victoria Watson, Tao Chen, Zhongqiu Hua, Zhaoqing Li, Yijun Kang, Hong Yan and Chao Li
Additional contact information
Minmin Li: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Ni Zhu: Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China
Lingxia Zeng: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Duolao Wang: Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK
Shaonong Dang: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Victoria Watson: Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK
Tao Chen: Department of Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK
Zhongqiu Hua: Department of Nursing, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Zhaoqing Li: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Yijun Kang: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Hong Yan: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China
Chao Li: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710061, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of parent migration on intellectual and physical development of early school-aged children in rural China. Design: setting and participants: The present cross-sectional study participants were a subset from a controlled, cluster-randomized, double-blind trial. From October 2012 to September 2013, the offspring of women who participated in a large trial were examined in the present study. Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC-IV) in which validity and reliability were shown to be satisfactory was used to measure the intellectual function and trained anthropometrists measured weight and height of children using standard procedures. Results: The mean difference of FSIQ scores between non-migration and both-parent migration groups was −3.68 (95%CI: −5.49, −1.87). After adjusting for the confounders, the mean difference of full-scale IQ between non-migration and both-parent migration group was −1.97 (95%CI: −3.92, −0.01), the mean differences of perceptual reasoning index and processing speed index were −2.41 (95%CI: −4.50, −0.31) and −2.39 (95%CI: −4.42, −0.35) between two groups respectively. Conclusion: Our results emphasized the impairment of both-parental migration in intellectual function (FSIQ, PRI, PSI) of children. These findings have important policy implications for the Chinese government to prevent the impairment of left-behind children. Further research is required to clarify the mechanisms by which both-parental migration influence the impairment in intellectual function of children.

Keywords: parental migration; intellectual development; physical development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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