In the past three decades, China has experienced the greatest rural-to-urban migration in history, for better work possibilities, hundreds of millions of rural folks leave their homes and move to cities, leaving many children left behind at home in the countryside with another parent or other family members [1]. The growing body of evidence from epidemiological surveys, mainly on school-age children, always shows that left-behind children (LBC) have more likely to suffer from social emotional, and developmental problems than non-left-behind children (NLBC) [2–4]. Parents' affection and economic support (ES) are lacking in left-behind children, which affects their social-emotional and behavioral development [5][6]. Shi et al. [1] surveyed 845 LBC children under 3 years of age in five provinces in southwest China and found that more than one-third of rural left-behind children under 3 years of age in the study area had social-emotional problems. Despite a growing body of studies exploring the mental and physical development of LBC to low well-being, those who endure parental migration at ages 3–6 have received less attention. To address this gap, this present study aimed to investigate the relationship between family SES and early social withdrawal behavior of LBC in rural China. Further, it explored the potential mechanisms that explain how SES affects left-behind children’s social withdrawal based on teacher-child relationships(TCR) qualities.
1.1. Family SES and social withdrawal in Chinese left-behind preschoolers
Social withdrawal is the refusal of a person to actively engage in social interactions with others or the choice to live alone to avoid the pressure of starting and maintaining interpersonal relationships [7]. The construct of social withdrawal is multi-dimensional, encompassing not only social avoidance but also shyness and unsociability [7][8]. For example, social avoidance is the urge to spend time alone combined with an active effort to avoid social engagement. Although desiring to engage with others, children undergo shyness in social circumstances causes people to withdraw to lessen their nervousness and trepidation. Others, however, might be labeled as unsociable because they retreat and prefer to be alone rather than due to social anxiety [8]. Previous studies have shown a simultaneous and predictable connection between early childhood social withdrawal and future social adjustment difficulties, including internalizing problems such as anxiety symptoms, negative peer relationships, and academic difficulties [9][10]. The rate of social withdrawal among preschool children in China has been investigated to be between 44.3% and 54.81% according to different assessment methods and research [11][12], and this figure is slightly higher than the Western nations [13]. Additionally, studies also show that LBCs are more likely serious than NLBCs to suffered social withdrawal [11].
Numerous studies have shown that there is a correlation between a children’s family socioeconomic background and their level of social-emotional development in children, such that children with higher family SES have better social-emotional behavior [6][14][15]. The parents of LBC have improved their family's economic income through parental migration. In contrast to those non-migrant families, migrant parents sacrifice their families to stay together for a better material life and a brighter economic future for the next generation [16][17]. However, despite a large number of relevant studies, the research conclusions on the relationship between the socioeconomic status of left-behind families and children's social withdrawal are inconsistent. Some empirical studies have shown that family economic status is an important protective factor for LBC, children's social and emotional development was favorably correlated with the caregiver's education, occupation, and monthly income [15][18]. But, some researchers argue that previous studies may overemphasized the role of migration families' economic resources, which, while providing physical security that relieves the pressure of survival, do not offset the parental care that should be invested in children [19]. Therefore, more attention is necessary to examine the relationship between family socioeconomic status and social withdrawal behavior among LBCs.
1.2. The mediating role of resilience
The internal psychological mechanistic pathways, such as resilience, that related family SES to children’s behavior problems are complex and interconnected [20]. Resilience refers to the process of overcoming the negative effects of risk exposure, successfully coping with traumatic experiences, and avoiding negative trajectories associated with risk, mainly including initiative, self-regulation, and attachment [21][22]. When a person's degree of resilience is low, it indicates that they have less drive and are less able to deal with challenges. Therefore, it is believed that resilience is a crucial psychological resource that helps people deal with stressful conditions [23][24]. Previous studies have shown that children with a high level of resilience are better able to use their psychological resources to quickly adjust their adverse emotions when under pressure [25][26]. Yang et al. [26] examined 380 Chinese left-behind preschool children’s resilience and social withdrawal, and the results showed that resilience had a significant negative predictive effect on social withdrawal. In addition, studies in different countries have revealed that higher family SES is closely associated with children’s resilience. For example, Yates and Mantler [27] reviewed 17 existing studies that investigated the role of SES on caregivers or children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that due to the pandemic, the financial pressures faced by caregivers, including high unemployment, collapsing economic markets, and inadequate financial relief programs, led to higher levels of distress among caregivers and less resilience among children. However, when families faced few financial hardships, they were better equipped to be resilient. Chen et al. [28] investigated 1245 Chinese junior high school students and found that subjective SES was positively associated with the children’s resilience. From this perspective, resilience may be an essential mediator of the relationship between family SES and social withdrawal. As a result, we investigated this association further in our work.
1.3. The moderating role of TCR
TCR is identified as an important predictor of children’s early school adjustment and behavior problems [29][30]. Children with higher levels of teacher-child interaction and social support tend to have greater courage to deal with future challenges [31]. Previous studies have found that the TCR is closely related to resilience and social-emotional behavior. On the one hand, TCR can affect preschool children's social withdrawal. Research conducting studies involving 702 3rd to 6th-grade students have shown that students in conflict teacher-student relationship are more likely to have externalized and internalized behaviors than others, while close teacher-student relationship shows fewer behavior problems [32]. Evidence from Chinese migrant children shows that teacher-child intimacy buffers the relationship between social withdrawal and peer exclusion, while teacher-child conflict intensifies the relationship [33]. On the other hand, as a protective resource, the TCR is closely related to the development of resilience. Through a three-wave longitudinal design, Zhang et al. [34] found that the teacher-student relationship at T1 was positively correlated with resilience at T2. The study further found that the TCR played a moderating role in the relationship between parent-child relationships and teenagers’ resilience.
Contextual Systems Model (CSM) contextualized the family, the school, and the child as a whole, with the TCR at the core of the whole system, influencing children's social emotional, and behavioral development [35]. Previous studies have indicated that TCR may be especially beneficial for children who have experienced lower- and middle family SES [36]. This is because adverse family situations can create psychological vulnerability and behavioral problems, while children's secure attachment relationships with teachers appear to promote adaptive adjustment as a protective factor [37][38]. Therefore, high levels of TCR may decrease social withdrawal [39]. This study aims to explore the assumption that TCR moderates the connection between family SES and social withdrawal via resilience.
1.4. The current study
Although previous literature has shown that family SES was significantly associated with withdrawal behavior, further exploring the protective variables and potential mechanism is necessary. From Fig. 1 we can preview the current study's aims to underlying the mechanisms by which family SES are associated with withdrawal behaviors in the left-behind Chinese preschool sample through a moderated mediation model. The three hypotheses we developed are as follows: First, family SES is directly related to withdrawal behaviors. Second, resilience is a potential pathway for mediating the association between family SES and left-behind children’s withdrawal behaviors. The increase in family SES level is linked to a decrease in withdrawal behaviors indirectly through the raising in resilience. Third, TCR moderates the connection between family SES and withdrawal behaviors via resilience.