ArticleBMC public health2025
The association between childhood left-behind experience, help-seeking, and mental health status among university students in rural China: a cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe experience of being left behind by parents in the care of other relatives during childhood is common in China. Students with such experiences may be vulnerable to adverse mental health outcomes, but seeking help may mitigate the impact. The relationships among childhood left-behind experience, help-seeking, and mental health status are yet to be explored, particularly in rural China.
methodsTwo cross-sectional health surveys were conducted among first-year university students in Guizhou, China, in 2018 and 2020, with a total sample of 4078. Single-item questions were used to gather information on whether the respondent had Childhood Left-Behind (CLB) experience and sought professional help. Mental health status was measured using the Chinese Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). Data were analysed using multiple linear regression and logistic regression models.
resultsThere was a positive and significant relationship between CLB experience and the total SCL-90 scores in the sample population, with a regression coefficient of 4.8 (s.e.= 1.45, t4070 = 4.18, p < 0.001) after adjusting for potential confounding variables, including demographics, concern about one's mental health, and help-seeking. A similar result was obtained using the dichotomized SCL classification, with an increased odds of positive psychiatric symptoms by nearly 25% for those who had a CLB experience compared to those who did not (OR = 1.24, 95%C.I.=1.05-1.46), after controlling for potential confounding variables. A significant modification effect was found between CLB and help-seeking in the association between CLB experience and mental health status. However, no significant modification effect was found between CLB and the year of data collection.
conclusionsThe results of this exploratory study suggest that the experience of being left behind by parents, even in the care of other relatives, can be detrimental to the mental health of these children as they grow up. Help-seeking for mental health problems can attenuate the impact of CLB experience and, in turn, reduce the risk of mental ill health in young people.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.