Journal of School Psychology
Volume 72, 2019, Pages 14-28

School adjustment of children from rural migrant families in urban China (Article)

Chen X.* , Li D. , Xu X. , Liu J. , Fu R. , Cui L. , Liu S.
  • a Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, United States
  • b Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, China
  • c Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, China
  • d Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, China
  • e Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, United States
  • f Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, China
  • g Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, China

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine school adjustment of rural-to-urban migrant children and its relations with acculturation in China. Migrant children were those whose official hukou status was in a rural region outside the city. Data were collected for 1175 students (M age = 11 years) in urban public schools from multiple sources including peer evaluations, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that migrant students performed more competently than urban non-migrant students in social and academic areas. Migrant students displayed better psychological adjustment than non-migrant students in higher grades, but not in lower grades. Among migrant students, those with higher scores on accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture tended to be better adjusted. These results indicate the implications of migration and change in life circumstances for children's school functioning in social, academic, and psychological domains. © 2018 Society for the Study of School Psychology

Author Keywords

school adjustment China Migrant Children

Index Keywords

male female teacher China major clinical study cultural factor Article academic achievement psychological adjustment student human migrant Self Report human experiment Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85059180078&doi=10.1016%2fj.jsp.2018.12.003&partnerID=40&md5=2e4f6a82026b0f28313896b5b435d117
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsp.2018.12.003
ISSN: 00224405
Cited by: 1
Original Language: English