The Relationship between Resilience and Anxiety among Left-Behind Children in Rural China

Abstract

There are 61 million left-behind children in rural China, which is 21.88% of all children in China, and 2 million of these children live by themselves without the guidance or supervision of an adult. This study investigated the influence of resilience on the anxiety of left-behind children (N = 206) living in Longguang Village of Anlong County in Guizhou Province, China, using the Ego-Resiliency Scale and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children. The resilience of the left-behind children was below the standard level, and their ability to cope with trauma, adversity, and threats was weak. Differences in the children’s resiliency varied in accordance with the circumstances of their parents’ absence. The anxiety score of the 206 left-behind children in the sample was high. Resilience was negatively correlated with anxiety. In other words, the anxiety of the left-behind children was lower when their level of resilience was higher.