ArticleBMC psychology2025
A longitudinal examination of loneliness in left-behind children: the interaction between self-esteem and academic self-efficacy matters.
Article in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Longitudinal Associations Among Teacher-Student Relationships, Academic Self-Efficacy, and Prosocial Behavior in Chinese Left-Behind Adolescents: A Three-Wave RI-CLPM Study.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Article
- Within-Person Reciprocal Relations among Academic Stress, Self-Esteem, and Problematic Internet Use in Chinese Adolescents.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Determinants of Health-Promoting Behaviors Among Indonesian Adolescents Living in Child Welfare Institutions: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundLoneliness can cause severe mental and physical health problems and is of particular concern among vulnerable groups such as left-behind children. Research has suggested important person-level characteristics and attributes, such as self-esteem and self-efficacy, to be protective factors of loneliness in children. However, existing research is limited in the use of a cross-sectional design and the lack of consideration of the self-esteem × self-efficacy interaction on loneliness, as well as the potential divergent effects of domain-specific (e.g., general vs. academic) self-efficacy in loneliness.
methodsWe used a longitudinal design to examine the moderation role of general vs. academic self-efficacy in the influence of self-esteem on left-behind children's loneliness. In a sample of 405 left-behind children (M
resultsAcademic self-efficacy was a more proximal predictor of loneliness at baseline and its change over time. Importantly, self-esteem predicted lowered loneliness and a more significant reduction over one year only when academic (not general) self-efficacy was high.
conclusionsA profile of high self-esteem and low academic self-efficacy appeared to be the most at-risk for loneliness in left-behind children. The findings should inform future research and policy/intervention efforts regarding strategies for addressing loneliness in left-behind children by enhancing their academic self-efficacy and closing the esteem-efficacy discrepancy.
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