The well-being of China’s rural to urban migrant children: Dual impact of discriminatory abuse and poverty

Abstract

Background

Post-migration experiences of discriminatory abuse and poverty have been recognized as key risk factors for psychopathology and health problems among children. However, little research has explored these associations among children participating in the internal migration process. Building on the stress and coping framework (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), this study investigated the influence of discriminatory abuse and poverty on depressive symptoms and health problems in a group of Chinese migrant children. It also examined how a culturally based meaning-focused coping, as measured by Chinese beliefs about adversity scale, moderates the stress-distress associations.

Participants

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1714 migrant youth (Mean Age = 13; Range = 10–16; 45.6 % Female).

Methods

The latent variable interaction structural equation modeling was conducted to explore the main and interaction effects among studied variables.

Results

High prevalence of depressive symptoms (49.6 %) was found for this sample. More than 90% of respondents reported on an average of 0–2 days as being sick over the past 30 days. Migrant youth were found to experience moderate levels of discriminatory abuse (M = 1.29, SD = 0.51; Range = 1–4) and economic stress (M = 1.38, SD = 1.25; Range = 1–4). The findings further revealed that discriminatory abuse and economic stress possessed severe consequences on their mental and physical health. The meaning-focused coping strategy weakened the relationship between discriminatory abuse and depressive symptoms (β=-0.07, p<.001). Among migrant youth who encountered discriminatory abuse those who adhered more to meaning-focused coping reported less depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

Findings shed light on the protective role of cultural factors in stress management for young people from migrant backgrounds.

Introduction

The economic expansion and social transformations in China have given rise to the ‘tidal wave’ of internal migration as characterized by rural migrants seeking short-term employment in large urban cities. Nowadays, migrant workers comprise an estimation of 36 % of China’s entire working force (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015). Children of migrant workers are generally referred to as “migrant children.” It was estimated that the number of migrant children living in the destination cities increased to 34.3 million in 2015, and raised more than 40 % since the year 2005 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015). Migrant youth coming of age are not only a rapidly growing segment of the urban population but also are a key resource for China’s labor pool in the 21st century (Pong, 2015).

Despite their critical role and presence in economic growth over the last three decades, migrants and their children remain marginalized and vulnerable due to structural barriers and institutionalized discrimination. A growing body of research has provided strong evidence that migrant children had poorer mental health (Gao et al., 2015), worse physical health (Hu et al., 2014), and lower self-rated health (Mao & Zhao, 2012) compared with their urban counterparts. Gao et al. (2015) noted that rural to urban migrant children living in Beijing had greater internalizing and externalizing behaviors and lower levels of life satisfaction than local children in the city.

A unique feature that provides a backdrop to China’s internal migration is the dualistic household registration system, which assigns citizens to either agricultural or non-agricultural (i.e. rural or urban) residency status. Children’s residential status is determined according to their parents’ status. Given that one’s residency status is closely connected to social programs provided by the government, migrant children without urban residency permits do not have equal access to social welfare and educational resources including subsidized fees for public school, medical insurance, and housing allowance.

Under such a segregated system, migrant workers and their children often perceive prevalent discrimination on the basis of their status as a rural migrant (Kwong, 2011; Wang, Li, Stanton, & Fang, 2012). Discriminatory abuse is defined as the daily hassles that members of lower status groups encounter (Edwards & Romero, 2008). As an enduring and impactful social stress, discriminatory abuse produces stress response and elicits harmful effects on both psychological and physical health (Pascoe & Richman, 2009; Schmitt, Branscombe, Postmes, & Garcia, 2014). Rural to urban migrant children in China were reported to encounter moderate to high levels of discrimination on a daily basis (Liu & Shen, 2010). In the school context, students from migrant backgrounds are targets of discrimination and are under social threats and stereotypes portrait them as being unsanitary, perpetually rural and violent (e.g. Chen, 2014; Li, Stanton, Fang, & Lin, 2006;). Discrimination abuse targeting migrant status is found to be harmful to children’s psychological wellbeing and academic motivation (Wang et al., 2012).

In addition to discrimination, post-migration experiences of economic stress also take a toll on children’s mental and physical well-being. Although migration is pursued as a household livelihood strategy for upward socioeconomic mobility, rural to urban migrant families are constantly struggling with financial hardship attributed to unstable family income, high living expenses, and minimal to none access to social welfare services. The nature of the migrant job is labor-intensive and low-skilled, which can result in unstable income varying from time to time depending on market demands. According to China Labour Bulletin (2007), the average monthly salary for a migrant worker is 3485 yuan (equivalent to 500 USD), which is hardly a third of the average monthly salary of residents living in Beijing (9942 yuan) and Shanghai (9802 yuan), two of China’s biggest urban cities. Second, financial stress experienced by migrant families could be further exacerbated by heavy living expenses in urban cities where they have to pay extra fees for housing, food, and transportations to keep up with living standards. Third, due to rural household registration status, the vast majority of migrant families are not eligible for social protections such as work-related injury insurance, medical insurance, maternity benefits, or subsidized school fees (Fang, Sun, & Yuen, 2016). One study reported that migrant families have to pay exorbitant fees to enroll their children in state/public schools, which may account for 30 % of family income (Pong, 2015).

Mounting research has shown that economic adversity has a detrimental effect on mental and physical health. Research documents that material strain creates a high level of cognitive load and detracts from decision making among adults (Mani, Mullainathan, Shafir, & Zhao, 2013). Adolescents of families struggle with socioeconomic hardship are predisposed to develop internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Yoshikawa, Aber, & Beardslee, 2012). A small number of studies have investigated the effect of economic stress in China’s rural to urban migration context. Findings are commensurate with research with Western samples and suggest that migrant children who experienced economic stress report lower school satisfaction, lower self-esteem, and more behavioral and learning problems (Chen, 2014; Fang, Yuen, & Sun, 2016). Perceived economic stress is a subjective experience of material deprivation and induces psychological cost associated with migration and relocation. Perceived material deprivation is a stronger predictor of children’s social and emotional development than actual income measures (Gershoff, Aber, Raver, & Lennon, 2007). The measure of perceived economic stress in this study encompasses children’s ratings of circumstances in which the family and children’s basic needs are not met.

Given the prevalence of institutionalized discrimination and poor living conditions in the lives of migrant families, more research is needed to explore the experience and implications of discriminatory abuse and economic stress among children. Wu, Tsang, and Ming (2012) argued that rural to urban migrants (and their children) should not be categorized as one homogenous group as there is great variability in their responses to social and cultural stress. Indeed, migrant children are not passive recipients of the external input as they actively negotiate their roles in the migratory process by capitalizing on social resources and coping capacity. Their use of coping strategies may also contribute to differences in outcomes when facing discriminatory abuse and economic stress.

Lazarus and Folkman (1984)’s transactional theory of psychological stress and coping offers a useful analytical framework for understanding the critical role of cognitive appraisal regarding a stressful circumstance antecedent to coping process (Taylor & Stanton, 2007). Depending on the specific contexts, causes, and available resources, there exist more than 400 different ways of coping (Skinner, Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003). Three broad categorizations of coping have been established (Lazarus & Launier, 1978; Pan, Wong, Chan, & Chan, 2008). The problem-focused coping (i.e. changing the stressful situation) and the emotion-focused coping (i.e. regulating negative emotions) are directed towards situational contingencies. The appraisal/meaning-focused coping, which is more culturally specific, is a process through which individuals develop an understanding of adversity in a different way (Pan et al., 2008). This meaning-focused coping or sometimes referred to as positive restructuring is related to a wide range of positive outcomes including self-acceptance, and psychological adjustment (Pan et al., 2008). To date, few studies have explored the effectiveness of meaning-focused coping among developing children. Nonetheless, the meaning-focused coping can be particularly adaptive for children because the transition period between childhood and adolescence is marked with an increased use of higher levels of cognitive capacities such as information retrieval, flexible thinking, positive thinking, acceptance, and self-reliance to cope with adversities (Skinner & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2007).

Beliefs refer to “social constructions that are part of a culture and have guided the socialization of those who share that culture” (Pepitone, 1994, p. 140). Culture is an important aspect of meaning-focused coping as cultural beliefs influence how individuals appraise and conceptualize adverse and prolonged stress such as economic strain (Shek, 2005; Walsh, 2006). Cultural beliefs about adversity explore the causes, consequences as well as coping behaviors towards adversity. The indigenous conceptualization of meaning-focused coping should be grounded on making sense of the situation according to cultural beliefs and philosophies as the definition and meaning of adversity are culturally bound (Walsh, 2006).

The indigenous conceptualization of Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity has been proposed and empirically tested by Shek (2004, 2005), who draws on Confucian and Buddhist ideologies to understand the extent to which Chinese youth endorse positive conceptualization of adversity to cope with family economic stress. For example, the positive beliefs were measured by sayings such as “diligence is an important factor to overcome poverty,” “when there is a will, there is a way,” “man is not born to greatness, he achieves it by his own effort.” These phrases not only derive from Confucian thoughts of inner strengths, perseverance and a sense of mastery but also represent the core concepts of self-reliance and positive thinking in meaning-focused positive restructuring. According to Walsh (2006), when people are equipped with positive thinking, they tend to view hardship as an impetus for growth, while showing fewer avoidance behaviors and having more locus of control over an adverse situation. It is plausible that for migrant children with positive cultural beliefs towards adversity, they would be better prepared to restructure and re-appraise the hardship as an impetus for change.

A number of studies have tested the associations between Chinese beliefs about adversity and youth outcomes. Shek (2003) reported that socioeconomically disadvantaged Chinese adolescents with a strong endorsement of positive beliefs about adversity displayed better psychological well-being, school adjustment, and fewer problem behaviors. In the context of natural disasters, earthquake survivors who adhered strongly to positive Chinese cultural beliefs of adversity had higher life satisfaction (Huang, Wong, & Tan, 2014). Recent studies found that Chinese left-behind children reported being less lonely and vulnerable when they endorsed positive cultural beliefs that emphasize individual agency and a sense of mastery during parental migration and absence (Zhang, Wang, & Zhao, 2014; Zhao, Liu, & Zhang, 2013).

Although previous studies reviewed above provide the basis that Chinese beliefs about adversity may benefit individuals with psychological adaptation in adverse situations, the exact role of meaning-focused coping in health outcomes of economic stress and discriminatory abuse has not been systematically researched. The stress-buffering model presents that coping strategies are purported to have both direct and moderating effects on psychosocial and behavioral health. One study with African American children reported that a culturally specific coping style named communalistic coping (i.e. relying on interdependent relationships for support) moderated the effect of discriminatory abuse on anxiety (Gaylord-Harden & Cunningham, 2009). The study suggested that at high levels of communalistic coping, an increase in perceived discriminatory abuse was associated with an increase in anxiety. Although communistic coping was found to be associated with fewer depressive symptoms and positive outcomes such as self-esteem, it is not effective in attenuating the effect of racial discrimination, a common stressor that is experienced by individuals around them, on psychological distress. African American adolescents who exercised communalistic coping by seeking support from surrounding others may suffer more anxiety associated with co-rumination of the discriminatory events.

Another study with middle-class Korean immigrant adults in Canada found that problem-focused coping strategies such as confrontation and social support seeking were more effective in reducing the influence of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms than emotion-focused coping measured by passive acceptance and emotional distraction (Noh & Kaspar, 2003). It is speculated that interventions targeting changing social circumstances may be more effective in reducing the consequences of discriminatory abuse among immigrant adults with high socioeconomic background and social capital.

Chinese beliefs about adversity are hypothesized to play a stress-suppressing role by reducing the negative impact of social and cultural stressors on health outcomes. First, the positive beliefs about adversity are based on the historically established, Chinese-centered worldview that emphasizes internal loci such as individual capacity, human malleability, and self-improvement. These strongly held traditional beliefs and cultural values have been constantly communicated by parents at home and transmitted through formal education. Migrant youth who adhere to these beliefs tend to recognize the essential role of “self” in managing stressful situation. In addition, differing from the racial identity that is static and biological, one’s migrant identity is a socially constructed category, which is more transient and fluid in nature. Research has shown that a strong endorsement of African American identity may trigger a higher incident of appraising an event as discriminatory. However, a strong endorsement of migrant identity is associated with a greater awareness of self-agency to view economic stress as a motivation factor in achieving scholastic success (Fang et al., 2016; Fang, Sun, & Yuen, 2017).

Drawing on the stress and coping framework (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), the present study examines the relationships between economic stress, discriminatory abuse, meaning-focused coping and health outcomes, in a group of rural to urban migrant children and adolescents. First, children of migrant workers in China constitute a migrant group and at the same time a set of a cultural group. They face duel stress of economic strain and discriminatory abuse. Cumulative evidence has supported the detrimental effects of poverty and discriminatory abuse on the developmental competencies of children from both migrant and non-migrant backgrounds. In addition, the salience of discriminatory abuse for youth from high-risk communities may function as a cumulative risk factor by explaining the unique variance in depressive symptoms above and beyond the variance explained by low socioeconomic status (Rumbaut, 1994). The current study moves beyond most studies that focus on a single stressor and investigates the joint effects of discriminatory abuse and economic stress among rural to urban migrant youth.

No research to date has assessed the associations between dual stress and culturally relevant meaning-focused coping in adolescents. Adolescence is a critical developmental period for examining these aforementioned associations because as children grow, they are increasingly exposed to multiple and intense stressors in everyday life. Meanwhile, the development of metacognitive skills also equips them with coping strategies and cultural knowledge to appraise and attribute causes of adversity. The extent to which adolescents utilize culturally specific coping to manage different stressful situations merits further examination.

For children and adolescents participating in internal migration trajectories, experiences of discrimination and poverty are uniquely implicated with structural barriers including the bifurcated residential registration system and rigid social protection programs monitored by a centralized government. Attributing the causes of adversity to external and structural factors may exacerbate distress and undermine individual agency to cope with these adversities. Endorsing positive beliefs derived from traditional Chinese philosophies likely a viable means to cope with perceived stress. The current study seeks to address an important research gap in the literature by investigating how cultural factors may operate for stressful experiences in the internal migration context.

The proposed research questions are

Q1: How do perceived economic stress and discriminatory abuse influence depressive symptoms and health problems in rural to urban migrant youth?

Q2: Whether and how do meaning-based coping moderate the aforementioned relationships?