Social capital and flourishing of left‐behind children in rural China

How basic psychological needs mediate

Bibliographic Data

ID6417880
AuthorsSijia Guo (0000-0001-6754-6559, College of Public Administration and Humanities Dalian Maritime University Dalian China), Liwei Zhang (0000-0002-2299-8268, School of Public Administration Jilin University Changchun China), Heng Lu (0000-0002-8289-6917, School of Philosophy and Sociology Jilin University Changchun China, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume30
Issue2
Pages141-150
Publication date2023-08-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChild & Family Social Work (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1356-7500 • E-ISSN: 1365-2206
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/cfs.13075
OpenAlexW4385858044
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited50

Flourishing, as an integrated conceptualization, is a specific perspective of well‐being which focuses on one's emotional status and psychosocial functioning. As flourishing is a vital determinant for the development of adolescents, this study aims to better understand extent and quality of the flourishing of left‐behind children in rural China from a strength‐based orientation rather than the traditional deficit approach. In line with an ecological system perspective, one's flourishing is intertwined with microfactors and macrofactors. Herein, this study combines social capital theory and self‐determination theory to construct an integrative framework to explore how two specific microfactors and macrofactors influence the flourishing of left‐behind children. Altogether, 995 Chinese rural adolescent respondents (57.2% [ N = 573] male and 52.3% [ N = 520] LBC, M age = 12.56 years) filled out a self‐report questionnaire that included the Social Capital Scale, Basic Psychological Needs Scale and Flourishing Scale. This study performed bivariate correlation analysis, regression analysis and mediation effect analysis through SPSS 26 and PROCESS 3.2 macro. Results indicate that (1) left‐behind children with more social capital experience higher levels of flourishing and (2) basic psychological needs have an indirect effect on the relationship between social capital and flourishing. The findings underscore the importance of constructing a synthetic framework to support the flourishing left‐behind children. They also indicate that the social networks and social resources for left‐behind children be expanded. Finally, results suggest that more attention should be given to fostering left‐behind children's innate growth through fulfilling their basic psychological needs

Developmental psychology · Eudaimonia · Flourishing · Geography · Political science · Psychiatry · Psychosocial · Scale (ratio · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology

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