The long-term impacts of preschool attendance on prosocial behaviors of children in China

Despite growing public attention to access to preschool education in China, there is limited evidence about its potential long-term impacts on children’s prosocial behavior development. This study examines the long-term effects of preschool attendance on children’s prosocial behaviors in China. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey, a nationally survey of 9,317 adolescents at 221 classes in 28 counties, we employed four identification strategies (i.e., the OLS regression model, county fixed effects model, propensity score matching approach, and IV model) to overcome the endogeneity of preschool attendance. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, our analysis revealed a significantly positive effect between preschool attendance and children’s prosocial behaviors (β = 0.164, P < 0.05). Specifically, compared with those without preschool education experience, the prosocial behavior scores of those with preschool education experience will increase by 0.164 points. Our results also suggested that children may reap more prosocial behavior benefits by attending preschools longer, and we found that the age at which a child entered preschool made an important difference in our sample. The mechanism analysis indicated that children with preschool attendance experience tend to develop a higher level of positive emotions (β = 0.027, P < 0.01, 95 %CI [0.011, 0,043], 2.7 % of total effect), more parental supervision and (β = 0.027, P < 0.01, 95 %CI [0.014, 0,041], 5.2 % of total effect) and better peer relationship (β = 0.052, P < 0.01, 95 %CI [0.025, 0,079], 5.2 % of total effect), which in turn promotes better prosocial behavior.