title: Resilience as moderator of the relationship between left-behind experience and mental health of Chinese adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In China, since the rural labor, leaving their children in the hometown to other caregivers is a trend that has been increasing, and the impact of parental absence on the well-being of left-behind children is increasingly drawing attention in the Chinese society. However, there is a lack of study on the potential impacts of being left behind on later psychosocial outcomes in adolescence and associated protective factors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted on a large sample of Chinese college students to test the moderating effect of resilience between left-behind experience and mental health problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Symptom Checklist as well as a self-reported questionnaire about left-behind experience designed by the authors were adopted for a survey with 2,968 Chinese college students as respondents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally, 1,063 students (35.8%) had 1 year or more left-behind experience. Compared to those who had no left-behind experience, the students who had left-behind experience were rated lower on resilience score and higher on mental health problem score. Mental health problems had a negative correlation with resilience. Regression analysis showed that resilience moderated left-behind experience and mental health problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individuals with left-behind experience are more vulnerable to mental health problems. Promoting resilience may be helpful for prevention of mental health problems in college students with left-behind experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China shijingyu2005@126.com.
authors.forename: Jingyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Students Counseling Center, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zengtang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Students Counseling Center, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Students Counseling Center, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Students Counseling Center, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D057189:Checklist; D002670:Child, Abandoned / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000639:trends; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012424:Rural Population; D057566:Self Report; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Resilience; adolescents; left-behind; mental health