The influence of parental involvement on the development of rural children: A comparative study of left-behind children and non-left-behind children

Background

Parental involvement correlates with diverse facets of children’s development, however, few studies have examined the impact of parental involvement on rural children from a comprehensive developmental perspective, particularly overlooking the unique plight of left-behind children in rural areas. This research intended to explore the influence of parental involvement on rural child development, assessing the disparity in such influence between left-behind and non-left-behind children.

Method

Using data from the China Education Panel Survey 2014–2015, the sample consisted of 3311 registered rural children, including 863 left-behind children in rural areas and 2448 non-left-behind rural children. Seemingly uncorrelated model analysis was conducted to test the effects in the full sample and sub sample.

Result

Rural left-behind children generally had lower parental involvement and lower development levels than non-left-behind peers. Parental involvement significantly improved rural children’s non-cognitive abilities, while mitigating social behavioural issues. Parental emotional involvement had a significant positive effect on the cognitive ability of rural children, and parental behavioural involvement was negatively correlated with the cognitive ability of rural children. There were significant differences in the effect of different dimensions of parental involvement on the development of rural left-behind and non-left-behind children, and the impact was more significant for non-left-behind children.

Conclusion

These findings support the importance of parental involvement in rural child development, which calls for further intervention and social policies to improve the family environment and growth process of rural children, especially for rural left-behind children.