Objective
The current study tested the association between family relationships and left‐behind children’s loneliness, as well as mediators of those associations.
Background
There is considerable concern in China about the psychological well‐being of rural children whose parents move to urban areas for work, so‐called left‐behind children. However, there have been inconsistent results in the research concerning loneliness for these children.
Method
Participants were Chinese left‐behind children from rural families in which one or both parents had left to work in an urban area (N = 399; 139 females; 11–16 years of age). The children completed questionnaires on grandparent–child relationships, parent–child relationships, emotional intelligence, peer relationships, and loneliness.
Results
Positive parent–child relationships were negatively associated with left‐behind children’s loneliness. Path analysis showed that more positive grandparent–child and parent–child relationships were associated with a higher level of emotional intelligence and better peer relationships, which in turn were negatively associated with lower child loneliness. Moreover, the unique effect of parent–child relationships was higher than that of grandparent–child relationships in predicting left‐behind children’s loneliness.
Conclusion
It appears possible that a positive relationship with grandparents can lessen the loneliness experienced by left‐behind children, but the parent–child relationship is still more important for this aspect of psychological adjustment. Emotional intelligence and peer relationships appear to be mechanisms that account for the association between positive family relationships and lower loneliness in this group of children.
Implications
The results are discussed in terms of the role that parents and grandparents can play in interventions to help this population.