Dai Q, Yang G, Hu C, Wang L, Liu K, Guang Y, Zhang R, Xu S, Liu B, Yang Y, Feng Z
The Third Military Medical University, Department of nursing, 400038 Chong qing, China.
The Third Military Medical University, Department of psychology, 400038 Chong qing, China.
Eur Psychiatry. 2017 Jan;39:114-122. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.07.008. Epub 2016 Dec 20.
Although alienation toward parents is important for children (for current mental health status or later interpersonal relationships in adulthood), it is undervalued and even lacks a standardized tool of assessment. Moreover, the large number of left-behind children in China is a cause of public concern. However, their experienced alienation toward their parents remains unclear, which may be important for early detection or intervention for behavioral problems in this population. Hence, the current study aimed to develop an alienation inventory for children and then use it to investigate the experienced alienation toward parents in Chinese left-behind children.
Two studies were carried out. Study 1 was designed to develop a standard inventory of alienation toward parents (IAP). In study 2, 8361 children and adolescents (6704 of them were left-behind status) of the Chongqing area, aged between 8 and 19 years old, were recruited for investigation. All participants were surveyed with a standard sociodemographic questionnaire, children's cognitive style questionnaire, children's depression inventory, adolescent self-rating life events checklist, and newly built IAP in study 1.
In study 1, we developed a two-component (communication and emotional distance) and 18-item (9 items for maternal or paternal form, respectively) IAP questionnaire. In study 2, exploratory factor analysis indicated an expected two-factor structure of IAP, which was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients showed a good reliability (0.887 and 0.821 for maternal and paternal form, respectively). Children with absent mother experienced the highest alienation toward parents. Boys as well as children aged 8-10 years old experienced higher alienation toward parents. Poor communication with parents (sparse or no connection), level of left-behind condition (parents divorced, been far away from parents), and psychosocial vulnerability (stressful life events, negative cognitive style) were risk factors of alienation toward parents.
The current study develops a two-factor (communication and emotional distance) IAP, which offers a reliable tool to assess experienced alienation of affection toward parents in children aged between 8 and 19 years old. Our result is the first investigation of experienced alienation and potential influential factors in Chinese left-behind children. The findings that children with absent mother experience higher alienation toward parents, as well as three recognized risk factors for alienation of affection toward parents (poor communication with absent parents, worse left-behind condition, and psychosocial vulnerability), give valuable guidance for parents who intend to leave or who are already leaving as well as for government policymaking.
尽管对父母的疏离感对儿童很重要（关乎当前心理健康状况或成年后的人际关系），但它未得到重视，甚至缺乏标准化的评估工具。此外，中国大量留守儿童是公众关注的一个问题。然而，他们对父母所经历的疏离感仍不明确，这对于该群体行为问题的早期发现或干预可能很重要。因此，本研究旨在开发一份儿童疏离感量表，并用其调查中国留守儿童对父母所经历的疏离感。
开展了两项研究。研究1旨在编制一份父母疏离感标准量表（IAP）。在研究2中，招募了重庆地区8361名8至19岁的儿童和青少年（其中6704名处于留守儿童状态）进行调查。所有参与者均接受了标准社会人口学问卷、儿童认知风格问卷、儿童抑郁量表、青少年自评生活事件清单以及研究1中新建的IAP的调查。
在研究1中，我们编制了一份包含两个分量表（沟通和情感距离）、18个条目的IAP问卷（分别针对母亲或父亲形式各9个条目）。在研究2中，探索性因素分析表明IAP具有预期的双因素结构，验证性因素分析证实了这一点。克朗巴哈α系数显示出良好的信度（母亲形式和父亲形式分别为0.887和0.821）。母亲缺失的儿童对父母的疏离感最高。男孩以及8至10岁的儿童对父母的疏离感更高。与父母沟通不畅（联系稀少或无联系）、留守儿童状况（父母离异、与父母分离较远）以及心理社会易损性（应激性生活事件、消极认知风格）是对父母疏离感的危险因素。
本研究编制了一个双因素（沟通和情感距离）的IAP，它为评估8至19岁儿童对父母情感上所经历的疏离感提供了一个可靠工具。我们的结果是对中国留守儿童所经历的疏离感及其潜在影响因素的首次调查。母亲缺失的儿童对父母疏离感更高以及对父母情感疏离的三个公认危险因素（与缺失父母沟通不畅、留守儿童状况更差、心理社会易损性）的研究结果，为打算离开或已经离开的父母以及政府决策提供了有价值的指导。
