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Social Support and Academic Stress in the Development of Psychological Adjustment in Chinese Migrant Children: Examination of Compensatory Model of Psychological Resilience

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Abstract

This study aimed to testify the compensatory model of psychological resilience in the development of psychological adjustment of Chinese migrant children and adolescents. Social support and academic stress were involved in the model to investigate the mediating role of psychological resilience. In this cross-sectional study, 411 participants from 5th to 7th grade completed self-report questionnaires measuring social support, academic stress, resilience, and psychological adjustment (defined as the composition of depression, self-esteem, and loneliness). Results found that social support compensated the negative impact of academic stress on psychological resilience. The effect of social support and academic stress accumulatively facilitated the development of resilience and further affected psychological adjustment. The results suggest the importance of enhancing resilience in the process of improving psychological well-being among Chinese migrant children and adolescents.

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Acknowledgments

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. We have got permission from ethics committee, department of ShiHezi University. What’s more, informed consent was obtained from the students and their parents. The authors would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of Xin Yuan Mental Health Association of Shi Hezi University, including the Conghui Sun who collected fidelity data for the study. In addition, we appreciate the teachers and schools that took part in the trial, contributing valuable data on children’s wellbeing. This information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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  1. Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, No.19, Xin Jie Kou Wai Street, Beijing, China

    Chao Song, Zhongfang Fu & Jianping Wang

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  1. Chao Song
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Correspondence to Jianping Wang.

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Song, C., Fu, Z. & Wang, J. Social Support and Academic Stress in the Development of Psychological Adjustment in Chinese Migrant Children: Examination of Compensatory Model of Psychological Resilience. Child Ind Res 12, 1275–1286 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9577-9

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