Parental emotional warmth and identity integration among Chinese migrant adolescents: The role of hope

• Published in: Asian and Pacific migration journal : APMJ Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 308 - 327
• Main Authors: Ni, Shiguang, Chui, Cheryl Hiu-Kwan, Ji, Xiaowen, Li, Hong, Chan, Lai-Wan Cecilia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2017; Scalabrini Migration Center
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adolescents; Childrearing practices; Children; Emotions; Family relations; Identity; Mental health; Migrants; Parents & parenting; Research design; Rural areas; Rural urban migration; Teenagers; migration; parental emotional warmth; identity integration; adolescents; China
• ISSN: 0117-1968; 2057-049X
• DOI: 10.1177/0117196817728623

Literature has established that migration processes have significant effects on the mental and psychological health of migrant children and adolescents. Yet, little is known of the effects of family dynamics and individual characteristics on rural-to-urban migrant adolescents’ psychological adjustment in the context of China. Using a cross-sectional questionnaire-based research design, this article examines the relationship between perceived parental emotional warmth, identity integration and hope among a group of Chinese migrant adolescents. Of a sample of 1,345 Chinese migrant adolescents, between 11 and 19 years old, we found that perceived parental emotional warmth was significantly associated with identity integration, and that hope partially mediated the relationship between parental emotional warmth and identity integration. The implications of the findings for migrant adolescents’ psychological adjustment in receiving communities are discussed.