Doctoral Dissertation Research: Development and Use of Social Capital in the Psychosocial Adjustment of Migrant Children

随着大量农村居民涌入城市寻找就业机会和更好的生活质量，流动儿童已成为大陆人口增长最快的部分之一中国。然而，政府旨在控制移民流动的政策使这些儿童没有资格获得基本社会服务，使他们面临更高的心理社会问题风险，如抑郁、攻击性、自尊低下和生活满意度差，这可能会破坏他们未来的发展，并导致其他社会问题。不幸的是，到目前为止，很少有研究了解他们的心理社会适应及其社会决定因素。本研究运用社会资本理论框架，考察内地流动儿童中国的心理社会适应状况。它有两个具体目标：1)确定嵌入家庭、同伴、学校和社区的社会资本影响流动儿童心理社会适应的机制；2)调查流动儿童的个人中介，即他们在创造和动员社会资本方面的主动和实际努力，如何影响社会资本的开发和使用及其对他们心理社会适应的影响。指导本研究的研究问题包括：在中国社会背景下，家庭、同伴、学校和社区社会资本如何影响流动儿童的心理社会适应？它们的影响有何不同？它们如何通过中介或调节途径相互作用以发挥特定的效果？儿童的个人代理如何影响社会资本对其心理社会适应的作用？这项研究将采用混合方法设计。将首先进行半结构化访谈和焦点小组，以制定和完善社会资本和儿童个人中介的衡量标准。然后，将对上海810名4-9年级流动儿童进行调查，上海是中国生活在城市地区的最大农村流动人口的家园。本研究将通过阐明社会资本的多维性及其影响，阐明儿童的个人中介在社会资本对儿童心理社会适应的作用中所起的作用，从而推动社会资本理论的发展。它还通过在非西方社会文化背景下验证这一理论来推进这一理论，从而潜在地增强了它的普遍适用性。对于负责以最有效的方式分配有限资源和努力促进移徙儿童健康和福祉的政策制定者和实践者来说，更好地了解社会资本的作用将是有益的。了解儿童个人中介的作用对于制定计划至关重要，这些计划鼓励流动儿童更多地参与家庭、同伴、学校和社区的关系，从而建立社会资本存量，以增进他们的福祉，并造福于社会。这些知识和对政策和实践的影响不仅限于中国，而且对美国和其他受移民影响的国家都有参考价值和适用范围。最后，研究过程还将有助于与大陆学者和机构建立更紧密的联系，这为未来在更广泛领域的研究合作铺平了道路。

SES-0728384Lawrence PalinkasQiaobing WuUniversity of Southern California Along with the flood of rural residents migrating to urban areas in search of employment opportunities and better quality of life, migrant children have become one of the fastest growing segments of the population in mainland China. However, government policies designed to control the flow of migration make these children ineligible for basic social services, placing them at higher risk of developing psychosocial problems such as depression, aggression, low self-esteem, and poor life satisfaction, which may undermine their future development and cause other social problems. Unfortunately, there has been little research to date to understand their psychosocial adjustment and its social determinants. This dissertation research applies the social capital theoretical framework to investigate the psychosocial adjustment of migrant children in mainland China. It has two specific aims: 1) to identify the mechanism by which social capital embedded in the family, peer, school, and community influences the psychosocial adjustment of migrant children; and 2) to investigate how the personal agency of migrant children, that is, their initiative and actual efforts in generating and mobilizing social capital, influences the development and use of social capital as well as its effects on their psychosocial adjustment. Research questions guiding this study include: How do family, peer, school, and community social capital influence the psychosocial adjustment of migrant children in the Chinese social context? How do their effects differ from each other? How do they interact with each other through mediating or moderating pathways to exert a specific effect? And how does children's personal agency influence the functioning of social capital on their psychosocial adjustment? The study will employ a mixed-method design. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be conducted first to develop and refine measures of social capital and children's personal agency. Then a survey will be conducted with 810 4th-9th grade migrant children in Shanghai, home to the largest population of rural migrants living in urban areas of China. This dissertation research will advance social capital theory by illuminating the multidimensional nature of social capital and its effects, and by clarifying the role of the child's personal agency in the functioning of social capital on child psychosocial adjustment. It also advances the theory by validating it in a non-western socio-cultural context, thus potentially enhancing its universal applicability. A better understanding of the function of social capital will be informative for policymakers and practitioners charged with allocating limited resources and efforts in a most efficient way to promote the health and well-being of migrant children. Understanding the role of the child's personal agency will be critical in developing programs that encourage migrant children to engage more in the relationships within their family, peer, school, and community, thus building the stock of social capital for the enhancement of their well-being, as well as for the good of society. The knowledge and implications for policy and practice are not limited to China, but are informative and applicable to the United States and other nations impacted by migration. Finally, the research process will also facilitate building stronger connections with scholars and institutions in mainland China, which paves the way for future research collaborations in broader areas.