Interpersonal relationship patterns of left-behind adolescents with family and school systems members and their associations with mental health: A latent profile analysis

Abstract

Background

The absence of parents owing to relocation from rural to urban areas has a detrimental effect on the mental health of adolescents in China. Previous studies have examined interpersonal relationships (IRs) and psychological health using a variable-centered approach based on group differences. Few studies have employed person-centered approaches to identify specific patterns of IRs in a large sample of Chinese left-behind adolescents (LBA), and little is known about the association between these profiles and psychological health.

Objective

To identify interpersonal relationship patterns of LBA with family and school systems members using latent profile analysis (LPA) and to examine their association with psychological health.

Participants and setting

The sample included 4724 LBA aged 11–18 years recruited from Chongqing City and Sichuan Province, China (M_age = 15.41, SD = 1.63 years, 46.2 % female).

Methods

Interpersonal relationships of LBA were conceptualized as father–child, mother–child, teacher–student, and student–student relationships.

Results

LPA identified four profiles: low school–low family relationships (6.4 %, profile 1), high school–medium family relationships (21.4 %, profile 2), medium school–medium family relationships (56.2 %, profile 3), and high school–high family relationships (15.9 %, profile 4). These four profiles significantly differed in the four IRs. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed that positive (i.e., life satisfaction, self-esteem, social adaption, and psychological suzhi) and negative mental health indicators (i.e., anxiety, depression, aggressive behavior, Internet addiction, and school bullying) varied across the four profiles. The psychological health of LBA differed according to their IRs. Profile 4 exhibited higher levels of positive psychological health and lower levels of negative psychological health compared to all other types of LBA. Importantly, profile 2 had fewer negative mental health than profile 1 and profile 3.

Conclusions

These findings elucidate the heterogeneous typologies of IRs in LBA and underscore the crucial role of school and family relationships in promoting the mental health of LBA. Therefore, strengthening both school and family IRs may reduce the prevalence of negative psychological health among LBA.