Tan Ruifeng, Chen Suiqing, Guo Xinying, Chen Huiyin, He Guixian
School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
School of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Mar 3;15(3):296. doi: 10.3390/bs15030296.
Much attention has been given to the predictive role of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children's social and peer functioning. As an important dimension of social adaptation, early social withdrawal in preschool left-behind children (LBC) might be the outcome of psychological factors and growth environments. This study explored the predictive effect of CU traits on social withdrawal among preschool LBC, including the indirect effect of emotion regulation and teacher-child relationship quality. Data from 513 Chinese preschool LBC (257 boys and 256 girls) were reported by their teachers in rural areas, including assessments of CU traits, emotion regulation, social withdrawal, and teacher-child relationship quality. Path analyses showed that the CU traits of young LBC could significantly positively predict the prevalence of social withdrawal, and emotion regulation played a key mediating role in this effect path. Notably, teacher-child relationship quality moderated the indirect effect of emotion regulation on CU traits and withdrawal behaviors. Therefore, the moderated mediation model was supported. The findings expanded the recognition of LBC with CU traits and further suggested that the association of some personality traits and growing environments in the early left-behind childhood can significantly make a difference in peer functioning and social adjustment.
冷酷无情（CU）特质在儿童社交和同伴功能中的预测作用已受到广泛关注。作为社会适应的一个重要维度，学龄前留守儿童早期的社交退缩可能是心理因素和成长环境共同作用的结果。本研究探讨了CU特质对学龄前留守儿童社交退缩的预测作用，包括情绪调节和师生关系质量的间接作用。来自中国农村地区513名学龄前留守儿童（257名男孩和256名女孩）的数据由他们的教师提供，包括对CU特质、情绪调节、社交退缩和师生关系质量的评估。路径分析表明，年幼留守儿童的CU特质能够显著正向预测社交退缩的发生率，且情绪调节在这一影响路径中起关键中介作用。值得注意的是，师生关系质量调节了情绪调节对CU特质与退缩行为之间的间接影响。因此，本研究支持了有调节的中介模型。研究结果扩展了对具有CU特质的留守儿童的认识，并进一步表明，早期留守儿童时期的某些人格特质与成长环境之间的关联能够显著影响同伴功能和社会适应。
