Abstract
Based on the ecological systems theory, this study examined the multiple risk factors experienced by children from low-income families in China and their subsequent impact on children’s psychological adaptation. A cumulative ecological risk questionnaire was constructed to examine the exploratory and descriptive risk factors most commonly exposed to children in families, schools and communities. The study sample consisted of 428 children from low-income families (N = 428; Mage = 12.35, SD = 2.51) from 20 ordinary primary and secondary schools across China. We conducted an exploratory latent class analysis using the responses from the cumulative ecological risk questionnaire. The results showed that a three-group solution fit the data best, with the following breakdown: “low-risk” = 41.1%, “family-risk” = 21.7%, and “school-risk” = 37.2%. The three groups showed significant differences in terms of psychological adaptation. The “low-risk” group exhibited fewer problem behaviors and higher prosocial behavior than the other groups. The “family-risk” group showed more significant adaptation difficulties, while the “school-risk” group showed lower levels of prosocial behavior. The results suggest that the ecological risks experienced by children from low-income families had significant group heterogeneity, which may further affect their psychological adaptation.
Highlights
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The ecological risks of children from low-income families were heterogeneous and may affect children’s psychological adaptation.
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Latent class analysis favored a three-group solution: low-risk, family-risk, and school-risk groups.
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The three groups showed significant differences in terms of the children’s psychological adaptation.
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Author Contributions
Z.L. was mainly responsible for the overall conception and design of this study. X.Y. wrote the manuscript and carried out the statistical analysis. H.L. and C.Z. carried out the investigation and data collation work. X.S. carried out the language polishing for the manuscript.
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This work was supported by the The National Social Science Fund of China [grant numbers 16BSH093] and Scientific research project of Hunan Education Department (Grant Number 17K049).
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Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of College of Education, Department of applied psychology, Hunan University of science & technology. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.
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Yin, X., Zhu, K., Shao, X. et al. Multiple Risk Factors Among Chinese Children from Low-Income Families and Their Impact on Psychological Adaptation. J Child Fam Stud 31, 2239–2247 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02235-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02235-y