School adjustment of children from rural migrant families in urban China

Journal of School Psychology 72 (2019) 14–28

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School adjustment of children from rural migrant families in urban China

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Xinyin Chena, , Dan Lib, Xinpei Xuc, Junsheng Liuc, Rui Fua, Liying Cuib, Shihong Liub a b c

Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, USA Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, China Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, China

A R T IC LE I N F O

ABS TRA CT

Action Editor: Andy Garbacz

The purpose of this study was to examine school adjustment of rural-to-urban migrant children and its relations with acculturation in China. Migrant children were those whose official hukou status was in a rural region outside the city. Data were collected for 1175 students (M age = 11 years) in urban public schools from multiple sources including peer evaluations, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that migrant students performed more competently than urban non-migrant students in social and academic areas. Migrant students displayed better psychological adjustment than non-migrant students in higher grades, but not in lower grades. Among migrant students, those with higher scores on accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture tended to be better adjusted. These results indicate the implications of migration and change in life circumstances for children's school functioning in social, academic, and psychological domains.

Keywords: Migrant children School adjustment China

1. Introduction Over the past several decades, China has carried out a comprehensive economic reform, in which a centrally planned command economy has been transformed into a market economy. The reform has led to dramatic changes, particularly in urban centers and cities, and created increased urban-rural differences in social and economic development (Chen & Chen, 2010; Gu, Zheng, & Qiu, 2010). Along with the reform, the Chinese government has relaxed the enforcement of migration restriction and allowed cities to absorb surplus rural labor. As the reform expanded and migration restrictions gradually relaxed since the 1980s, a large number of rural people have moved to cities, which constitutes the largest migration in human history (China Labor Bulletin, 2013; Zhang, 2004). According to the National Population Census, approximately 221 and 234 million residents had relocated from rural regions to cities in 2010 and 2013 respectively, who were referred to as internal rural-to-urban migrants (China State Statistics Bureau, 2011, 2014; United Nation, 2013). Many rural migrants bring their families including children with them, and migrant families often stay in the city for years while maintaining links with their villages of origin (Shen, 2006). The growth of migrant children's population has accelerated in recent years as the patterns of migration have changed from individual migration to family resettlement and from temporary inhabitation to long-term stay (Wu, Tsang, & Ming, 2014). It is estimated that approximately 20% of the migrants are currently school-age children (Mao & Zhao, 2012). A major issue that affects migrant families, which may be unique in China, is the household registration system called hukou that

⁎ Corresponding author at: Applied Psychology-Human Development Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216, USA. E-mail address: [email protected] (X. Chen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.12.003 Received 28 June 2017; Received in revised form 28 September 2018; Accepted 17 December 2018 0022-4405/ © 2018 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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was established in the 1950s mainly to control population mobility. This system assigns a residency to each person at birth, tying their rights and benefits to her or his hukou status and location. Children's hukou is determined by the government according to their parents' (until 1998, only by the mothers') category. Residents in urban regions typically receive many benefits (e.g., medical care, old-age pensions, employment opportunities) that residents in rural regions do not. Except in rare circumstances, it is still extremely difficult for people to acquire a permanent residence in the place that does not correspond to their hukou (e.g., migrants in cities; Wang, 2005). Under the hukou system, migrant families do not have a legal registration status in the city and thus do not have the same rights and benefits as local non-migrant counterparts. Until late 1990s, children from migrant families (or migrant children in short form used in this paper) were generally not allowed to enter public city schools and thus had to attend migrant children's schools, which had a low quality of education. In the past decade, however, the municipal governments of most cities have developed policies to require public elementary and junior high/middle schools to accommodate migrant children, although they typically need to complete senior high school (grades 10–12) and then participate in the college entrance examinations in their original places (Wu et al., 2014). Consequently, most migrant school-age children now attend regular public schools in the city, together with their nonmigrant urban peers, which creates a distinct context for social interaction and school adjustment. 1.1. School adjustment of rural migrant children in urban China Despite the improved educational conditions in recent years, children from migrant families continue to live in relatively adverse circumstances such as lower family income, fewer opportunities for future occupation and upward mobility, more limited access to health care and other benefits (Wong, Chang, & He, 2009). Moreover, migrant children are likely to experience stress and difficulties related to migration and adaptation to the urban environment including negative perceptions and attitudes such as prejudice and discrimination from local people in the city (adults and children in the neighborhood are typically aware of children from migrant families; e.g., Sun, 2006). Thus, it is unsurprising that the limited existing research on migrant children in China has focused on their problems, often using a “deficit” model (e.g., Wong et al., 2009). Findings from some studies supported the view, indicating that migrant students tended to display school difficulties and report psychological distress (Lin, Fang, Liu, & Lan, 2009; Mao & Zhao, 2012). The results concerning the negative effects of migrant status, which were largely weak or modest, have reinforced, to some extent, the negative stereotypical perceptions and attitudes of urban residents about migrant children, which, in turn, may constitute an undesirable context for their development (Gu et al., 2010). In a few studies, researchers found mixed results, such as nonsignificant differences between migrant and non-migrant urban students on academic performance and life-satisfaction (e.g., Xu, Zhang, & Zhou, 2008). It should be noted that the previous studies were often conducted relying on isolated questionnaire surveys or interviews (e.g., “Are you satisfied with your current circumstances?”) with small samples, which might provide incomplete or inaccurate information about the adjustment of migrant children (see Gu et al., 2010 for a review). Therefore, further investigation is needed to achieve a better understanding of migrant children's adjustment in various domains in China. In the present study, we first sought to examine whether migrant students in urban Chinese schools differed from their nonmigrant counterparts in school adjustment. According to Ladd and colleagues (e.g., Ladd, Buhs, & Seid, 2000), school adjustment is concerned with children's success in adapting to the school environment, as indicated by fulfilling the social demands of the school, performance on academic tasks, and affect and attitude in the school. Social competence, academic achievement, and psychological wellbeing in the school context represent the main aspects of children's school adjustment. We were particularly interested in whether migrant children might learn and benefit from the experiences of contact and participation in the urban context and eventually display strengths in their school adjustment. The idea was derived from an emerging constructivist perspective (Chen, 2012; García Coll et al., 1996; Kagitçibasi, 2012; Shek et al., 2003), which indicates that diverse experiences, including adverse experiences, may have positive effects on development. The positive effects of adverse experiences have been recognized in the discussion of resilience, involving the processes of helping individuals develop abilities to cope with stress (e.g., Rutter, 2013). In accord with the traditional constructivist view on learning that emphasizes the active role of individuals in constructing knowledge from their experiences (Piaget, 1970; Vygotsky, 1978), the broad constructivist perspective further asserts that children who experience adversity during socialization may develop competencies and qualities that are conducive to learning and cognitive development as well as adjustment in various social and psychological areas. Such experience may be a valuable contributor to the achievement of success. This perspective fits well with the literature on immigrant paradox (e.g., García Coll & Marks, 2012) - although first-generation immigrant youth in Western countries experience a variety of difficulties, they may achieve more positive outcomes in areas such as academic achievement, health, and socioemotional functioning, relative to nonimmigrant and later-generation immigrant youth (e.g., Chen & Tse, 2010; Marks, Ejesi, & Garcıa Coll, 2014). The belief about the constructive function of the experience of adversity has long been endorsed and served as guidance in education in Chinese society (Shek et al., 2003; Zhao, Liu, & Zhang, 2013). As indicated in an old Chinese adage, “The sharp edge of a sword comes out of grinding, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold”, it is believed that the experience of challenges and difficulties is useful, and perhaps even necessary, for children to better understand various life circumstances, appreciate potential opportunities, and improve themselves (Liang, 1987). More specifically, the experience of migrant children may help them develop strengths and learn skills to deal with difficult situations. For example, the experience may motivate children to set new goals, re-organize their social-cognitive capacities, and make continuous effort to achieve the goals. The effort of migrant children is likely to be supported by their parents. A main reason for migrant parents to bring their children to the city and stay for a lengthy period is to create opportunities for them to receive a better education and prepare them for a better future (Shen, 2006). Thus, migrant parents are likely to hold high expectations for 15

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their children to achieve success. Moreover, the exposure to, and experience of, different social and cultural circumstances may serve as resources for effective functioning in various settings. In rural regions of China, behavioral characteristics that are traditionally endorsed, such as social responsibility and self-constraint, are still highly encouraged (Fuligni & Zhang, 2004). Relative to their urban counterparts, rural youth are more likely to display group orientation and self-control (Guo, Yao, & Yang, 2005). In urban regions of China, however, along with the social changes, new behavioral qualities such as initiative-taking and self-expression are increasingly appreciated by people, especially in the young generations. Many Western individualistic ideologies such as liberty and individual freedom have also been introduced and exerted a significant influence on individual attitudes and behaviors (e.g., Chen & Chen, 2010). Migrant children may have more opportunities than others to learn mixed and perhaps complementary qualities, which help maintain a balance between pursuing their own interests and establishing group harmony in social interactions (e.g., Chen, 2012; Maccoby, 1998). 1.2. Acculturation and school adjustment among migrant children An important factor that researchers have been interested in the study of individuals who move to a new environment is acculturation (Costigan & Dokis, 2006). Acculturation generally refers to how contact with new social and cultural contexts changes individual attitudes and behaviors (Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006). Research on acculturation has tapped mainly into two processes - accommodation to the new culture and maintenance of the original culture (Kang, 2006; Ward, 2001). It has been found that various aspects of acculturation, such as social interactions and relationships, participation in cultural practices, the use of language, and lifestyle choices, are associated with adjustment, with the magnitudes of about .20s for most associations (e.g., Chen & Tse, 2010; Costigan & Dokis, 2006). Some of the acculturation issues such as language competence that are often discussed in the literature for internationally immigrant youth (e.g., Chen & Tse, 2010) may not be relevant to internal within-country migration. However, the general modes and processes of acculturation (accommodation to new values and lifestyles, maintenance of original values and lifestyles) are likely to play a role in the adjustment of migrant children. Berry (1997) developed a typological approach, based on the two processes, indicating that migrants may use different strategies in acculturation – integration (high accommodation to the new culture and high maintenance of the original culture), assimilation (high accommodation and low maintenance), separation (low accommodation and high maintenance), and marginalization (low on both dimensions). It is believed that the integration strategy is likely most effective while the marginalization is most ineffective in migrants' adaptation, with the other two falling somewhere in between. In this study, we attempted to explore how acculturation was associated with school adjustment of migrant children in China. Given the substantial and pressing demands of adaptation for migrant children in the city, accommodation to urban circumstances, such as re-establishing social relationships, engaging in social activities, and developing a sense of affiliation and belonging, is obviously important for their adjustment. It is conceivable that accommodation helps migrant children obtain support and assistance for school tasks and is beneficial for their psychological wellbeing (Cheung, 2013). On the other hand, migrant families typically maintain close contact with relatives and others in the village. For example, children stay in the hometown for several months each year when school is closed in the summer and winter breaks; virtually all migrant families go to the hometown for reunion with relatives and friends during the period of the Chinese New Year. Because migrant children are not allowed to attend senior high schools in the city, they have to go back to finish their high school education and then participate in the college entrance examination in their hometown where their hukou is. Migrant parents and children, including those born in the city, do not have legal hukou or residence status in the city, and they cannot change it under the current law (Gu et al., 2010). Thus, although migrant children often live in the city for many years (approximately 8 years for the sample in the present study), they are regarded by others and themselves as rural residents, and their parents are likely to encourage, support, and make arrangements for them to engage in frequent interactions with peers and relatives in the hometown (e.g., Gu et al., 2010; Mao & Zhao, 2012). As means of communication such as mobile phones are readily accessible to rural and urban people in China today, for example, migrant children are likely to communicate with their peers and relatives in the hometown (e.g., Cheung, 2013; Murphy, 2010). Contact with individuals of the same background and participation in activities of original rural culture of migrant children may enhance the appreciation of their cultural background and maintain a sense of connection with their home community, which may contribute to social and psychological adjustment, such as reduced feelings of social isolation and loneliness (e.g., Donato & Duncan, 2011; Liu & Fang, 2013). From the constructivist perspective (Chen, 2012; Kagitçibasi, 2012; Shek et al., 2003), we were particularly interested in children who could accommodate to the urban culture and at the same time maintain the original rural culture. Children who are high on both accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture may be most likely to benefit from the opportunities to learn mixed values and behavioral qualities. As a result, these children may display better adjustment than others, particularly those low on both orientations. 1.3. Overview of the present study The primary purpose of the present study was to examine school adjustment of rural-to-urban migrant children in China. To achieve the study goal, we collected data on social and academic performance and psychological wellbeing from multiple sources for both migrant and non-migrant students, and data on acculturation from self-reports for migrant students. The main research questions included: (1) In what ways did migrant children differ from non-migrant children in the city on school adjustment? and (2) How was acculturation associated with school adjustment of migrant children? Based on the literature (e.g., Chen, 2012; Shek et al., 2003; Ward, 2001), we hypothesized that the status of the migrant group would have positive effects 16

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Table 1 Means and standard deviations of the measures of school adjustment for shanghai-born and rural-born migrant children. Variable

Shanghai-born

Rural-born

t value

PA-social competence Social preference Leadership TR-social competence Acad. achievement TR-acad. performance TR-learning problems Perceived self-worth Loneliness Depression Accommodation to urban culture Maintenance of rural culture

−0.00 0.09 −0.03 0.01 −0.14 −0.05 0.09 3.64 1.87 0.39 3.71 3.28

0.12 0.17 0.12 0.12 0.05 0.11 −0.09 3.70 1.81 0.33 3.61 3.46

1.08 0.81 1.47 1.11 1.83 1.58 −1.79 1.25 −0.80 −1.62 −1.13 1.83

(1.05) (0.94) (0.93) (1.06) (1.15) (0.99) (0.98) (0.90) (0.75) (0.37) (0.64) (0.75)

(0.98) (0.89) (0.95) (0.88) (0.94) (0.90) (0.89) (0.83) (0.74) (0.32) (0.61) (0.70)

Note. Standard deviations are in parentheses next to M scores. Perceived self-worth, loneliness, depression, accommodation to urban culture, and maintenance of rural culture are average scores, ranging from 1 to 5, 1 to 5, 0 to 2, 1 to 5, and 1 to 5, respectively. The other variables ranged from −3.3 to 3.3. PA = peer assessments. TR = teacher ratings.

(i.e., migrant children would perform better than non-migrant children) on social competence, academic performance, and psychological adjustment. We also expected that, among migrant children, those with higher levels of accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture would be better adjusted than others in social, academic, and psychological aspects (e.g., Berry, 1997). We believe that the study will provide valuable information about the experiences of rural migrant children in urban Chinese schools and have practical implications for school psychologists and other professionals to develop effective strategies to help migrant children. 2. Method 2.1. Participants Participants in the study consisted of 506 rural migrant students (59.68% male) and 669 non-migrant students (50.07% male) in third to sixth grades in three public schools in Shanghai, China. Rural migrant students were those whose official hukou status was in a rural region outside the city of Shanghai. The hukou status was determined by and maintained in the government household registration system and was recorded in the school during student registration. The mean ages of the students were 10 years 11 months (SD = 17 months) and 10 years 10 months (SD = 17 months) for the migrant and non-migrant groups, respectively. The students in the schools came from the residential area where the school was located. There were approximately 30 students in each class. The mean length of residence of the migrant students in the city was 8.33 years (SD = 2.86 years). Of the migrant students, 147 (29%) were born in Shanghai. No significant differences were found between those who were born in Shanghai or in their rural hometown on any of the study variables (social, academic, and psychological adjustment variables, F(12, 488) = 1.51, p > .05, see Ms and SDs Table 1) or the relations of migration group status and acculturation group membership with the adjustment variables. Virtually all students, both migrant and non-migrant, attended the same school from the first grade because students typically were not allowed to transfer to a different school. In Chinese schools, students are encouraged to participate in various extracurricular social and academic activities, which provide extensive opportunities for them to interact with each other. One teacher is designated to be in charge of a class. This head teacher often teaches one or two major courses and takes care of the activities of the class. Students are not allowed to switch classrooms. The schedule of courses and other activities is typically identical for students in the same class. Almost all participants in this sample were of the Han nationality, which is the predominant ethnic group (over 90% of the population) in China. Students usually do not have language problems in communication in schools because teachers and students speak Mandarin, which is the official language in the country. In the sample, 99% and 98% in the migrant and non-migrant students lived with both parents, and the others were from families with one parent due to parental divorce, death, or other reasons. Of the students, 40.71% and 86.10% in the migrant and non-migrant groups were only children, and the others had one or more siblings. The “one-child-per-family” policy was implemented in the late 1970s and was more successful in urban areas than in rural areas. Of the non-migrant mothers and fathers, 2.24% and 3.29% had an elementary school, 15.15% and 12.86% had a junior high school, 18.54% and 22.27% had a senior high school, 22.65% and 13.46% had a professional or technical school, 33.35% and 31.68% had an undergraduate, and 8.07% and 16.44% had a graduate school education, respectively. Of the migrant mothers and fathers, 23.52% and 16.00% had an elementary school, 46.44% and 43.09% had a junior high school, 16.80% and 26.68% had a senior high school degree, 5.93% and 4.16% had a professional or technical school, 4.74% and 6.91% had an undergraduate, and 2.57% and 3.16% had a graduate school education, respectively. Non-migrant mothers and fathers had higher educational levels than their migrant counterparts, χ2(5) = 393.59 and 315.11, ps < .001. Urban nonmigrant families (approximately 13,000 Chinese yuan or US$2000) had significantly higher monthly incomes than migrant families (approximately 7600 Chinese yuan or US$1100), F(1, 1173) = 75.64, p < .001. Among the family variables, parental education and 17

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family income were associated with the variables in the study and thus were included as covariates in the analyses. The number of siblings in the family, Bs = 0.01, 0.18, and 0.10, SEs = 0.08, 0.25, and 0.07, t(1173) = 0.02, 0.73, and 1.31, ps > .05, and length of residence of migrant children in the city, Bs = −0.02, −0.02, and −0.01, SE = 0.02, 0.04, and 0.01, t(504) = −1.36, −0.47, and −0.32, ps > .05, did not have significant effects on children's social, school, and psychological adjustment in the study. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Peer assessments of social competence A peer nomination measure, adapted from the Revised Class Play (RCP, Masten, Morison, & Pellegrini, 1985), was used to measure students' social competence. This technique has been found to be highly useful in assessing social competence because it taps the insiders' perspectives. Following the procedure described by Masten et al. (1985), during administration, the research assistant read each of the behavioral descriptors, and students were asked to nominate up to three classmates within the class who could best play the role if they were to direct a class play. Nominations received from all classmates were used to compute item scores for each student. The item scores were standardized within the class to adjust for differences in the number of nominators. The variable of social competence was formed based on the 12 items in the scale (e.g., “A person who everyone listens to,” “Someone who helps other people when they need it”), and the standardized scores were used in the analyses, as described in previous studies (e.g., Chen, Rubin, & Li, 1995). The same version of the measure has demonstrated construct validity and internal consistency reliability in other students that included samples of Chinese students (e.g., Chen, Cen, Li, & He, 2005; Chen et al., 1995). The internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) of this measure were 0.94 and 0.92 in migrant and non-migrant children, respectively, in the present study. 2.2.2. Sociometric nominations Students were asked to nominate up to three classmates within the class with whom they most liked to be and three classmates with whom they least liked to be (positive and negative nominations). The positive and negative nominations received from all classmates were totaled and then standardized by classroom to permit appropriate comparisons. As suggested by other researchers (e.g., Coie, Terry, Lenox, Lochman, & Hyman, 1995), cross-gender nominations were allowed. The positive and negative playmate nominations received from peers provided indexes of peer acceptance and peer rejection, respectively. Test–retest reliabilities (interval of 2 weeks) in a different study with Chinese students (N = 132) were 0.77 and 0.93 for positive and negative sociometric nominations, respectively. Following the Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli (1982) procedure, an index of social preference, which indicates how well an individual is liked by peers in the classroom, was formed by subtracting negative nomination scores from positive nomination scores and was used in the analyses. The same procedure has been used in Chinese students (e.g., Chen et al., 2005). 2.2.3. Leadership There are various formal student organizations, which are often hierarchical in nature, in Chinese schools. Leaders of these organizations, elected by peers and teachers, are usually believed to be good students in social and behavioral aspects. Leadership at a higher level such as school level is considered as indicating greater competence than that at a lower level such as the class or withinclass group level. Data on student leadership were collected from school records. Leadership was coded as follows: Students who were small group leaders within the class received a score of 1; students who held leadership positions at the class level (e.g., class committee member) and at the school level received scores of 2 and 3, respectively. Students who did not hold leadership positions were given a score of 0. Leadership scores were standardized within the class and then used in the analyses. This information has been shown to be a useful indicator of social competence in Chinese students (e.g., Chen et al., 2005). 2.2.4. Teacher ratings The head teacher in each class was asked to rate each of the students in his or her class (approximately 30) on social competence and learning problems (Teacher–Child Rating Scale; Hightower et al., 1986), using a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very well), in terms of how well each item described the student. The 20 items in the competence scale (e.g., “Participates in class discussion,” “Copes well with failure”) involved various aspects of school-related social competence such as frustration tolerance and social skills. Consistent with the procedure used in previous studies (e.g., Chen et al., 1995), a global score of social competence was calculated in this study. The 6 items in the learning problems scale tapped students' difficulties in academic performance (e.g., “Having difficulties in learning academic subjects,” “Poorly motivated to achieve”). In addition, the head teacher rated each student's academic performance on Chinese, math, and English. Teachers were asked to rate students' current performance on each of these subjects on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). The teacher-rating scores were standardized within the class to control for the teacher's response style and to allow for appropriate comparisons. The standardized scores were used in the analyses. The same version of the measure has demonstrated construct validity and internal consistency reliability in other students that included samples of Chinese students (e.g., Chen et al., 2005; Liu, Fu, Li, Liu, & Chen, 2018). The internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) were 0.93 and 0.91 for social competence, 0.83 and 0.82 for learning problems, and 0.92 and 0.88 for academic performance for migrant and non-migrant children, respectively, in the present study. 2.2.5. Academic achievement Information concerning academic achievement in Chinese, mathematics, and English was obtained from the school records. The scores of academic achievement were based on examinations conducted by the school. The maximum score for each subject was 100, and a score of 60 is usually considered the cutoff between a pass and a failure. Chinese, mathematics, and English were the three main 18

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subjects that were common in Chinese schools. Scores on Chinese, mathematics and English were significantly correlated (rs ranging from 0.67 to 0.72, ps < .001) and were summed and standardized within the class to form a single index of academic achievement, which was used in the analyses. The standardized academic achievement scores ranged from −4.70 to 1.96, with M = 0, SD = 1. The same version of the measure based on grades in the subjects has demonstrated construct validity and internal consistency reliability in other samples of Chinese students (e.g., Chen et al., 2005; Chen, Yang, & Wang, 2013). The internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) of academic achievement were 0.85 and 0.79 for migrant and non-migrant children, respectively, in the present study. 2.2.6. Perceived self-worth A self-report measure, adapted from the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985), was used to assess the perceived selfworth of the participants. In the original scale, participants choose “Really true for me” or “Sort of true for me” on either left or right side the statement of positive or negative self-perceptions (see Harter, 1985). To facilitate data collection, researchers have revised the format to a 5-point rating scale, ranging from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (always true) (e.g., Chen, Liu, Ellis, & Zarbatany, 2016; Liu et al., 2015), which was used in this study. Students were asked to respond to 6 items describing general self-worth (e.g., “I am proud of myself in many ways,” “I am happy with the way I do a lot of things”). The item scores were averaged to form the variable of perceived self-worth that was used in the analyses, with higher scores indicating more positive self-regard. The same version of the measure has demonstrated construct validity and internal consistency reliability in other students that included samples of Chinese students (e.g., Chen et al., 2016). The internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) of the measure were 0.81 and 0.75 for migrant and non-migrant children, respectively, in this study. 2.2.7. Loneliness Loneliness in school was assessed by a self-report measure (Asher, Hymel, & Renshaw, 1984). Students were requested to respond to 16 self-statements (e.g., “I have nobody to talk to,” “I feel lonely”) using a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (always true). The average score of the responses was calculated and used in the analyses, with higher scores indicating greater loneliness. The same version of the measure has demonstrated construct validity and internal consistency reliability in other students that included samples of Chinese children (e.g., Chen, Wang, Li, & Liu, 2014). Internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) of the measure were 0.91 and 0.90 for migrant and non-migrant children, respectively, in the present study. 2.2.8. Depression We administered to the participants a 14-item form of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1992). The measure included all 10 items in the short version (CDI-S) and four additional items from the full version. The 14-item form was developed through pilot studies and psychometric analysis mainly to reduce the time that participants needed to spend on the task while capturing relevant information in assessing Chinese children's depressed mood (the 14-item version was highly correlated with the full version in several large samples, with rs = 0.95–0.96, ps < .001, e.g., Liu et al., 2017). Each of the items provides three alternative responses (e.g., “I feel like crying every day,” “I feel like crying most days,” “I feel like crying once in a while”) from which the participant chooses one that best describes him or her in the past 2 weeks. The items center on a given thought, feeling, or behavior associated with depression, such as self-deprecation, reduced social interest, anhedonia, fatigue, and self-blame. Following the procedure outlined by Kovacs (1992), the average score of depression was computed and used in the analyses, with higher scores indicative of greater depression. The same version of the measure has demonstrated construct validity and internal consistency reliability in other students that included samples of Chinese students (e.g., Chen et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2017). The internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) of this measure were 0.85 and 0.85 for migrant and non-migrant children, respectively, in this study. 2.2.9. Acculturation Migrant students in grades 4 to 6 in the sample (n = 377) completed a Social and Cultural Acculturation Scale (SCAS), adapted from a measure developed by Chen and Tse (2010). The SCAS is a bi-dimensional scale, assessing variation in both original and new cultural orientations. The 20 items in the measure reflect adaptation to the urban culture and adherence to the rural culture in various aspects such as social contact, participation in cultural practices, a sense of belonging, and lifestyles (e.g., “How much do you like to play with local city children?” “How much do you feel you are the same as city children in lifestyles?” “How much do you think you belong to your rural community?” “How often do you contact your relatives and friends in your hometown through telephone or other means?”). Response options ranged from 1 (not at all/never) to 5 (very much/almost all the time). Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed two factors in the measures: accommodation to urban culture (eigenvalue = 4.27) and maintenance of rural culture (eigenvalue = 1.52) with the items loaded on the corresponding factors. Standardized factor loadings were all significant, with a moderate to high magnitude ranging from 0.40 to 0.73. The goodness of fit of the model of the measure in this study was acceptable, χ2(163) = 284.35, p < .001, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.05, suggesting that the indicators well represented the two acculturation factors (Brown, 2006). The average score of students' responses was computed for each subscale and used in the analyses, with higher scores indicating greater urban or rural orientation. Internal consistencies (Cronbach's alphas) were 0.81 and 0.80 for accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture, respectively. The mean scores were 3.66 and 3.42 (SD = 0.63 and 0.71) for accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture, respectively. Accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture were significantly and modestly correlated, r = 0.18, p < .001. Accommodation to urban culture was positively associated with length of residence of the student in the city, r = 0.11, p = .03; maintenance of rural culture was negatively correlated with length of residence in the city, r = −0.20, p < .001. 19

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2.3. Procedure We administered to the students a peer assessment measure of social competence, a sociometric nomination measure, and selfreport measures of perceived self-worth, loneliness, and depression. Teachers were asked to complete a rating scale for each participant concerning his or her social competence, learning problems, and academic performance. Data on leadership and academic achievement were obtained from school records. Information on students' migrant status was also obtained from school records. Migrant children completed a measure of acculturation. In addition, family demographic information was obtained from parents. All measures were administered in Mandarin. The members of our research team, who were university faculty in the United States and China, carefully examined the items in the measures, using a variety of strategies (e.g., repeated discussion in the research group, interviews with students and teachers, psychometric analysis). The Western-based measures were translated and back-translated to ensure their comparability with the original English version. The same versions of the measures have been used in other studies with Chinese students and shown to be appropriate in the Chinese context (e.g., Chen et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2017). The administration of the measures in the present study was conducted by a group of faculty, who were a part of the research team, and graduate students, who were research assistants, in psychology in China. All the faculty had extensive experiences in conducting research with children and adolescents, and all the students had received general training in psychology, child development, and school education and specific training on the administration of the measures in data collection for this study. The measures for the students were group administered in the classroom during class time. It took approximately an hour and a half to complete data collection in each class. Teachers were not present during the sessions. Extensive explanations were provided to participants during the collection of data. No evidence was found to suggest that the students in the samples had difficulties in understanding the measure items or procedures. Teachers completed the ratings for the students either during the student sessions or at a different time. It took approximately an hour for each teacher to complete the ratings for the students in his or her class. The participants were recruited through the school. After the research assistants described the study in each class, all students were invited to participate in the study with no criteria for exclusion. An information letter and consent forms for parents and students were distributed in class. Informed written consent was obtained from the parents and assent was obtained from the students. The participation rate was 95%. The research was approved by the Institutional Review Board. The data were collected in May and June in 2012. All measures were administered during this period. 2.4. Plan of data analyses Corresponding to the main research questions, we used structural equation modeling to examine (1) the effects of migrant vs. nonmigrant group status in predicting school adjustment, and (2) associations between acculturation and school adjustment in migrant children. This technique allowed us to simultaneously test all relations between predictors and the latent adjustment variables while including the relations among the adjustment variables in the model, with the model free of measurement errors. The relations were included in the model simultaneously because there was no theoretical basis for entering the predictors and the covariates in a hierarchical manner. For the first issue, three latent constructs of school adjustment were formed on the basis of observed measures: social competence (peer-assessed social competence, social preference, leadership, and teacher-rated social competence), academic performance (academic achievement/grades, teacher-rated academic performance, and teacher-rated learning problems), and psychological wellbeing (perceived self-worth, loneliness, and depression). A higher-order factor of school adjustment was not considered in this study, given that social competence, academic performance, and psychological adjustment are typically regarded in the literature as representing distinct aspects of adjustment in the school (e.g., Chen et al., 2016; Ladd et al., 2000). Then, we tested the model in which migration group status (0 = non-migrant group, 1 = migrant group), along with covariates including gender (0 = male, 1 = female), grade (0 = grades 3 and 4, 1 = grades 5 and 6), father education, mother education, and income, predicted the three latent adjustment variables. Model fit was evaluated using the Chi Square Test (χ2), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker Lewis index (TLI), and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). According to Hu and Bentler (1999), MacCallum, Browne, and Sugawara (1996), and Brown (2006), values of CFI and TLI larger than 0.90 and 0.95 and values of RMSEA smaller than 0.08 and 0.05 indicated acceptable and good model fit, respectively. The analytical diagram is presented in Fig. 1. For the second issue, two latent variables of acculturation, accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture, were formed, each with the corresponding items as indicators, to predict the latent school adjustment variables. Gender, grade, parental education, family income, and length of residence were controlled in the analyses. To further examine the nature of the relations between acculturation and adjustment variables in migrant children, we conducted a two-stage cluster analysis, as suggested by other researchers (e.g., Buist & Vermande, 2014; Gore, 2000). A hierarchical cluster analysis was first performed using Ward's method, and the centroids of the resulting clusters were applied as the initial values for subsequent K-means clustering. Then, each observation in the sample of migrant children was assigned to a cluster with the closest centroid. After identifying an appropriate number of clusters, we used effect coding to analyze the effects of cluster membership on the latent adjustment variables, controlling for covariates (gender, grade, parental education, family income, and length of residence). The analytical diagram is presented in Fig. 2. All analyses were conducted using Mplus 7.3. 3. Results Missingness ranged from 0 to 3.5% for all variables except 15.4% for family income. The Little's MCAR test (Schlomer, Bauman, & Card, 2010) indicated that data were missing completely at random (MCAR), χ2(80) = 64.50, p = .90. We used Full Information 20

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Fig. 1. Diagram of contributions of migration group status in predicting adjustment, controlling for gender, grade, parental education, and family income. PA = peer assessments; TR = teacher ratings.

Fig. 2. Diagram of contributions of acculturation group membership in predicting adjustment in migrant children, controlling for gender, grade, parental education, family income, and length of migration. PA = peer assessments; TR = teacher ratings. The effects of acculturation group membership on school adjustment variables are in Table 4.

Maximum Likelihood (FIML) to estimate missing data and all models. FIML is recommended for data that are MCAR because the method produces unbiased estimates and valid statistical inferences (e.g., Cham, Reshetnyak, Rosenfeld, & Breitbart, 2017; Enders, 2010). Classroom intraclass correlations (ICCs), which represented the proportion of variance explained by the grouping structure or clustering, were < 0.05 and non-significant (i.e., not significantly different from zero) for all the variables, indicating no cluster effects for the classroom in the present study (e.g., Hox, 2010). The descriptive statistics by migration group were reported in Table 2. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) on grade, sex, and migration group status (independent variables), with parental education and family income as covariates, revealed significant overall main effects of gender, Wilks = 0.90, F(10, 807) = 8.94, p < .001, η2 = 0.11, and migration group status, Wilks = 0.97, F(10, 807) = 2.30, p = .009, p < .05, η2 = 0.03, on all the adjustment variables in the first column in Table 2 21

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Table 2 Means and standard deviations of the measures of school adjustment for boys and girls in migrant and non-migrant groups. Variable

Migrant

Non-migrant

Boys PA-social competence Social preference Leadership TR-social competence Acad. achievement TR-acad. performance TR-learning problems Perceived self-worth Loneliness Depression

−0.16 0.08 −0.11 −0.14 −0.08 −0.11 0.19 3.67 1.87 0.36

Girls (0.85) (0.89) (0.93) (0.88) (0.96) (0.97) (0.95) (0.85) (0.75) (0.35)

0.35 0.21 0.33 0.48 0.28 0.34 −0.41 3.83 1.75 0.32

Total (1.14) (0.89) (1.17) (0.92) (0.83) (0.87) (0.80) (0.82) (0.74) (0.33)

0.05 0.13 0.06 0.11 0.07 0.08 −0.05 3.73 1.82 0.34

Boys −0.24 −0.33 −0.18 −0.36 −0.21 −0.21 0.32 3.75 1.93 0.36

(1.01) (0.89) (1.05) (0.94) (0.92) (0.96) (0.94) (0.84) (0.74) (0.34)

F value Girls

(0.75) (1.12) (0.91) (0.96) (1.10) (1.06) (1.08) (0.94) (0.81) (0.36)

0.16 0.13 0.09 0.18 0.11 0.10 −0.24 3.98 1.61 0.27

Total −0.04 −0.10 −0.04 −0.08 −0.05 −0.06 0.04 3.86 1.77 0.31

(1.14) (0.94) (0.98) (1.03) (0.97) (0.96) (0.92) (0.83) (0.63) (0.28)

(0.99) (1.06) (0.96) (1.03) (1.05) (1.02) (1.04) (0.89) (0.74) (0.33)

Group

Gender

7.45⁎⁎ 5.26⁎ 7.31⁎⁎ 8.22⁎⁎ 12.97⁎⁎⁎ 13.28⁎⁎⁎ 2.84 0.12 0.84 0.93

29.34⁎⁎⁎ 18.56⁎⁎⁎ 16.69⁎⁎⁎ 61.23⁎⁎⁎ 22.28⁎⁎⁎ 25.77⁎⁎⁎ 68.01⁎⁎⁎ 8.67⁎⁎ 10.45⁎⁎ 5.29⁎

Note. Standard deviations are in parentheses next to M scores. All variables except for perceived self-worth, loneliness, and depression are standardized scores. Perceived self-worth, loneliness, and depression are average scores, ranging from 1 to 5, 1 to 5, and 0 to 2, respectively. PA = peer assessments; TR = teacher ratings. ⁎ p < .05. ⁎⁎ p < .01. ⁎⁎⁎ p < .001.

(dependent variables). There were no significant effects of grade or interactions. Follow-up univariate analyses indicated that compared to girls, boys had lower scores on peer-assessed social competence, peer preference, leadership, teacher-rated social competence, teacher-rated academic performance, academic achievement, and perceived self-worth; and, higher scores on teacherrated learning problems, loneliness, and depression. Migrant students had higher scores on peer-assessed social competence, peer preference, leadership, teacher-rated social competence, teacher-rated academic performance, and academic achievement than nonmigrant students. Correlations among the adjustment variables are presented in Table 3. We examined the measurement model for the two structural equation models, including three latent adjustment constructs (social competence, academic performance, and psychological wellbeing). The results indicated that the model fit was good, χ2(30) = 121.94, p < .001, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.04.

Table 3 Correlations among adjustment variables. 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Migrant group 1. PA-social competence 2. Social preference 3. Leadership 4. TR-social competence 5. Academic achievement 6. TR-academic performance 7. TR-learn problems 8. Perceived self-worth 9. Loneliness 10. Depression M SD

0.52 0.42 0.46 0.47 0.51 −0.44 0.28 −0.28 −0.24 0.05 1.01

0.27 0.37 0.36 0.38 −0.39 0.23 −0.26 −0.24 0.13 0.89

0.43 0.39 0.41 −0.43 0.19 −0.16 −0.19 0.06 1.05

0.46 0.55 −0.57 0.37 −0.29 −0.29 0.11 0.94

0.83 −0.62 0.28 −0.29 0.30 0.07 0.92

−0.70 0.34 −0.31 −0.29 0.08 0.96

−0.31 0.25 0.30 −0.05 0.94

−0.59 −0.58 3.73 0.84

0.66 1.82 0.74

0.34 0.34

Non-migrant group 1. PA-social competence 2. Social preference 3. Leadership 4. TR-social competence 5. Academic achievement 6. TR-academic performance 7. TR-learn problems 8. Perceived self-worth 9. Loneliness 10. Depression M SD

0.48 0.45 0.49 0.44 0.51 −0.44 0.29 −0.33 −0.29 −0.04 0.99

0.31 0.49 0.47 0.48 −0.45 0.26 −0.40 −0.31 −0.10 1.06

0.45 0.41 0.46 −0.47 0.22 −0.22 −0.24 −0.04 0.96

0.45 0.55 −0.62 0.30 −0.39 −0.35 −0.08 1.03

0.83 −0.65 0.33 −0.33 −0.39 −0.05 1.05

−0.68 0.34 −0.32 −0.36 −0.06 1.02

−0.27 0.30 0.30 0.04 1.04

−0.58 −0.58 3.86 0.89

0.70 1.77 0.74

0.31 0.33

Note. PA = peer assessments; TR = teacher ratings. All correlations were significant at p < .001. 22

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Table 4 Effects of migration group status in predicting the latent variables of social competence, academic performance, and psychological adjustment. Adjustment

β

B

SE

95% CI

t value

Social competence Academic performance Psychological adjustment

0.22 0.19 0.06

0.31 0.85 0.08

0.05 0.16 0.05

(0.20, 0.41) (0.53, 1.17) (−0.02, 0.17)

5.55⁎⁎⁎ 5.15⁎⁎⁎ 1.58

⁎⁎⁎

p < .001.

3.1. Relations between migration group status and school adjustment We examined the differences between migrant and non-migrant children using structural equation modeling to test the effects of migrant vs. non-migrant group status in predicting school adjustment. The model included the predictor (migrant group status), the covariates, and the three latent adjustment constructs. Loadings for the latent factors were all significant with standardized coefficients ranging from 0.60 to 0.94. The fit of the overall model was acceptable, χ2(74) = 347.60, p < .001, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.05. The results first showed that migration group status significantly and positively predicted social competence and academic performance, but not psychological adjustment (see Fig. 1). Migrant students performed more competently than non-migrant students in social and academic areas. The estimates and significance tests of migration group status are presented in Table 4. For the covariates, gender was positively associated with social competence, academic performance, and psychological adjustment, B = 0.46, 0.99, and 0.19, SE = 0.05, 0.13, and 0.04, t(1168) = 9.97, 7.33, and 4.97, ps < .001, respectively. Mother education was positively associated with academic achievement and psychological adjustment, B = 0.20 and 0.06, SE = 0.08 and 0.02, t (1168) = 2.58 and 2.57, ps = .01. The results indicated that girls had higher scores on social competence, academic performance, and psychological adjustment than boys. Students from families with higher levels of mother education had better academic performance and psychological adjustment. There was a significant migration group × grade interaction on psychological adjustment, B = 0.27, SE = 0.08, t(1154) = 3.39, p < .001. Further analyses indicated that migrant students in higher grades had better psychological adjustment than their counterparts in lower grades, B = 0.23, SE = 0.06, t(498) = 3.79, p < .001; there was no grade difference in psychological adjustment in non-migration students, B = −0.04, SE = 0.05, t(498) = −0.79, p = .43. From a different perspective, the results showed that migrant students had better psychological adjustment than non-migrant students in higher grades, B = 0.21, SE = 0.06, t (564) = 3.37, p < .001, but not in lower grades, B = −0.05, SE = 0.06, t(564) = −0.90, p = .37. In addition, there was a migration group × father education interaction on academic achievement, B = −0.21, SE = 0.10, t(1154) = −2.01, p = .04. Further analyses showed that fathers' education was positively associated with academic achievement in non-migrant students, B = 0.15, SE = 0.08, t (661) = 1.97, p = .05, but not in migrant students, B = −0.06, SE = 0.10, t(661) = −0.59, p = .55. There were no other significant interactions.

3.2. Relations between acculturation and school adjustment among migrant students The analyses of the relations between acculturation and school adjustment were conducted only in migrant students. The model included the two latent variables of acculturation (i.e., accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture), the covariates, and the three latent school adjustment variables. The goodness of fit of the overall model was acceptable, χ2(550) = 825.70, p < .001, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.05. The results indicated that accommodation to urban culture was positively associated with social competence, academic performance, and psychological adjustment, B = 0.27, 0.69, and 0.42, SE = 0.08, 0.20, and 0.06, t(497) = 3.46, 3.52, and 6.37, p < .001. Maintenance of rural culture was positively associated with psychological adjustment, but not social competence or academic performance, B = 0.19, SE = 0.08, t(497) = 2.21, p = .03. No other main effects or interactions were significant. With a further two-stage cluster analysis (a hierarchical cluster analysis and then K-means clustering), each migrant student was assigned to a cluster with the closest centroid. Four clusters were identified with distinct characteristics based on individual scores on the two factors of acculturation: High Accommodation-High Maintenance group (HAccom-HMaint, 32.3%, with centroids of 4.07 and 4.09 for Accommodation and Maintenance), High Accommodation-Low Maintenance group (HAccom-LMaint, 29.2%, with centroids of 3.98 and 2.87), Low Accommodation-High Maintenance group (LAccom-HMaint, 15.6%, with centroids of 3.07 and 3.72), and Low Accommodation-Low Maintenance group (LAccom-LMaint, 22.9%, with centroids of 2.83 and 2.72). The groups corresponded to the integrated, assimilated, separated, and marginalized categories, respectively, in Berry's (1997) model. Using effect coding, we included the four-cluster/group membership information in the model to predict the latent adjustment variables. The goodness of fit of the overall model was acceptable, χ2(114) = 219.47, p < .001, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.05. As shown in Table 5, the results indicated that the HAccom-LMaint group was higher than the HAccom-HMaint and the LAccomHMaint groups, which in turn were higher than the LAccom-LMaint group on social competence and school achievement. The HAccom-HMaint and HAccom-LMaint groups were higher than the other two groups on psychological adjustment. A further analysis revealed that the HAccom-HMaint group was higher than the HAccom-LMaint group on psychological adjustment, whereas the latter two groups did not differ on psychological adjustment. 23

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Table 5 Effects of acculturation group membership in predicting the latent variables of adjustment. Adjustment

Predictor

β

B

SE

Social competence

HAccom-HMaint group (integrated) HAccom-LMaint group (assimilated) LAccom-HMaint group (separated) LAccom-LMaint group (marginalized) HAccom-HMaint group HAccom-LMaint group LAccom-HMaint group LAccom-LMaint group HAccom-HMaint group HAccom-LMaint group LAccom-HMaint group LAccom-LMaint group

0.07 0.33 −0.16 −0.25 0.05 0.23 0.00 −0.29 0.52 0.24 −0.24 −0.51

0.05 0.21 −0.10 −0.16 0.11 0.48 0.01 −0.59 0.30 0.14 −0.14 −0.30

0.06 0.07 0.08 0.07 0.18 0.19 0.23 0.20 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.06

Academic performance

Psychological adjustment

95% CI (−0.07, (0.08, (−0.25, (−0.29, (−0.24, (0.11, (−0.44, (−0.97, (0.19, (0.03, (−0.27, (−0.41,

0.16) 0.34) 0.05) −0.02) 0.45) 0.84) 0.45) −0.20) 0.40) 0.24) −0.01) −0.18)

t value 0.74 3.18⁎⁎ −1.29 −2.25⁎ 0.60 2.57⁎ 0.03 −2.99⁎⁎ 5.50⁎⁎⁎ 2.48⁎ −2.07⁎ −4.88⁎⁎⁎

Note. HAccom = high accommodation; LAccom = low accommodation; HMaint = high maintenance; LMaint = low maintenance. The grand mean was used as the reference. ⁎ p < .05. ⁎⁎ p < .01. ⁎⁎⁎ p < .001.

Concerning the covariates, the results showed that girls had higher scores than boys on social competence and academic performance, B = 0.42 and 0.93, SE = 0.08 and 0.22, t(496) = 5.15 and 4.14, p < .001. Students in higher grades had better psychological adjustment, B = 0.09, SE = 0.04, t(496) = 2.33, p = .02. 4. Discussion Over the past several decades, millions of rural migrant families in China have brought their children and stayed in the city. The school adjustment of migrant children is an important issue that has received substantial attention from parents and educators. Internal migration also provides an opportunity for researchers to explore the role of context and its change in human functioning. From a stress and psychopathological perspective, it is argued that due to their undesirable life circumstances, migrant children are likely to display heightened problems (e.g., Lin et al., 2009; Mao & Zhao, 2012). On the other hand, the resilience and constructivist perspectives suggest that migrant children may learn diverse qualities and develop strengths in their adaptation to the new environment (Chen, 2012), which has been neglected in previous research. The results of the present study indicated that, compared with urban non-migrant students, despite their relatively adverse family socioeconomic conditions (e.g., lower parental education and family income), migrant students displayed greater social competence and attained higher academic achievement. In addition, the results indicated that the acculturation modes of migrant students were associated with school performance in different domains. These results indicated the significance of migration and life change for children's school adjustment. 4.1. Differences between migrant and non-migrant children Concerning the first research question in the study, our results showed that migration group status significantly and positively predicted social competence and academic performance, suggesting that, compared with non-migrant students, migrant students were more competent in social and academic areas as indicated by peer- and teacher-assessed social competence, leadership, peer preference, and academic achievement. The results supported our hypothesis and were consistent with the immigrant paradox literature and related findings indicating that new immigrant youth tend to display better school, psychological, and physical wellbeing than non-migrant youth in Western countries (e.g., Marks et al., 2014). According to recent views from the stress and resilience theory (Rutter, 2006), the experience of adversity may foster the development of resilience or competence because it helps youth better understand and cope with various situations, including challenges in school performance and adjustment. The experience may motivate migrant parents and children to set new goals, re-organize their internal and external resources, and make great effort to achieve success (Shek et al., 2003). Moreover, given their backgrounds, migrant children may engage in the constructive processes in which values and qualities that they learn in the urban environment, such as social assertiveness and selfconfidence, are integrated into the traditional values and qualities, such as self-control and responsibility, that they learn in the home (e.g., Shen, 2006). This experience may allow them to build strengths based on diverse values and develop sophisticated strategies to perform in social and school settings (Chen, 2012). The results indicated that migrant and non-migrant students did not differ on psychological adjustment in lower grades. However, there was a significant interaction between migration group status and grade in predicting psychological adjustment. Specifically, migrant students in higher grades displayed better psychological adjustment than their non-migrant counterparts. Consistent with these results, older migrant students showed more positive psychological adjustment than younger migrant students. It is possible that with the development of social and cognitive abilities, migrant children become increasingly competent in handling the influence of adverse family and social conditions (e.g., Luthar, Crossman, & Small, 2015). When migrant children could regulate or 24

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control their negative emotional reactions, their relatively better performance in social and academic areas might help them to develop psychological wellbeing. It should be noted that the results of the present study were different from those from some of the previous studies in China (e.g., Mao & Zhao, 2012) and in other countries such as Mexico and Turkey (e.g., Donato & Duncan, 2011; Goksen & Cemalcilar, 2010; Mishra, 2016), which showed that migrant children displayed more school and psychological difficulties or did not differ from nonmigrant children. As indicated earlier, the previous results about migrant children often came from methodologically weak studies (e.g., using brief questionnaire surveys or interviews with small samples), which made it difficult to interpret the results. The data in the present study were collected from multiple sources using established measures including peer assessments, teacher ratings, selfreports, and school records (e.g., Chen et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2014), which might provide relatively more reliable and complete information about the adjustment of migrant children. Another possible reason is that governments in China have established more policies in recent years to support urban migrant families (e.g., allowing migrant children to attend regular public schools with lower costs to the family), which may help migrant children achieve better adjustment. At the same time, as internal migration has become more stabilized and normative in the country and migrant and non-migrant residents engage in more interactions, social attitudes toward migrant children might have changed over the years, which likely resulted in a relatively more desirable social environment for them and helped them improve their self-confidence in adjustment. It will be interesting to continue to examine the issue when the conditions for migrant families are further improved in the future. Similar to most other studies of migrant and immigrant families, due to practical difficulties, the present study did not control for the self-selection factor in the voluntary migration. Existing evidence suggests that migrant families and non-migrant families in rural China are largely similar in family and personal conditions (e.g., Fan, Fang, Liu, & Liu, 2009; National Women's Association, 2013), and our results showed that individual acculturation played a significant role in the adjustment of migrant children in the city as discussed below. Nevertheless, this issue needs to be examined in future research. 4.2. Acculturation and school adjustment The second main research question was about the role of acculturation in migrant children's school adjustment. We found that the length of residence of the children in the city was not associated with adjustment, which seemed to indicate that this variable might not adequately reflect the complicated social-attitudinal and cognitive processes or experiences that are involved in migrant children's adaptation to the environment. However, the results showed that how migrant children accommodated to urban culture and maintained rural culture was associated with school adjustment. Specifically, the results first indicated that accommodation to urban culture was positively associated with social, academic, and psychological adjustment and that maintenance of rural culture was positively associated with psychological adjustment although not with social or academic performance. A further clustering analysis revealed four groups of migrant students with different acculturation profiles based on the two acculturation variables. Moreover, these four groups appeared to show different patterns of adjustment. Students high on accommodation to urban culture and low on maintenance of rural culture tended to perform better in social and academic areas than students high on both accommodation and maintenance or students low on accommodation and high on maintenance. The latter two groups in turn had better social and academic performance than the group who were low on both accommodation and maintenance. These results were consistent with our hypothesis. Through accommodation (e.g., the formation of new relationships and engagement in activities in the city), migrant students may become more capable to obtain support and assistance from others in the school. At the same time, as migrant students develop a greater sense of belonging and affiliation, they may feel more confident about themselves, which in turn allows them to display their strengths in social interaction and academic performance (Chen & Tse, 2010). In contrast, migrant students who fail to establish support systems and thus feel isolated from others may develop difficulties in school adjustment. Interestingly, students who had high scores on accommodation and low scores on maintenance displayed better social and academic achievement than students who were high on both acculturation variables, which seemed to suggest that accommodation to urban culture is a more important task for migrant children. It is possible that an attempt to accommodate urban culture and maintain rural culture simultaneously is highly challenging, likely causing confusion because mixed values may be incompatible or even conflictual with each other. Thus, focusing on learning new cultural standards and acquiring support in the city may be a more effective strategy for social and academic performance. Nevertheless, our results showed that students who were high on both accommodation and maintenance displayed better psychological adjustment than others; thus, possessing urban and rural cultures at the same time helps migrant students develop positive self-regard and self-feelings. The unique effects of accommodation to urban culture and maintenance of rural culture suggested that each of them contributed to psychological adjustment and that the integration of urban and rural values might be particularly conducive to psychological wellbeing. Our results also showed that migrant students who were low on both urban and rural orientations displayed poor adjustment across social, academic, and psychological domains. The results were consistent with the literature that marginalized or disengaged immigrant youth often experience more problems than others in adaptation to the new environment (e.g., Berry et al., 2006). 4.3. Limitations and future directions Several limitations and weaknesses in the study should be noted. First, internal migration is a relatively recent phenomenon in China, which is associated with many issues including government policies, labor market regulation, social security and welfare arrangements, and child education. Parents and educators in China have been concerned about school adjustment of migrant 25

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children. Thus, we conducted this study to examine how migrant students performed in comparison with their non-migrant counterparts. Based on the literature (e.g., Chen, 2012; Gu et al., 2010), we argued that group differences might be related to the development of aspiration for success to improve social and economic status and the constructive processes in integrating diverse values and behavioral qualities among migrant children. In this study, we attempted to explore the issues among migrant students from the acculturation perspective. However, acculturation is concerned with one specific aspect that may be involved in the processes. It will be important in the future to explore other social-contextual and personal processes and factors (e.g., policy, school practices, parenting styles) in the school adjustment of migrant children. Second, the results of the present study concerning the relations between acculturation and adjustment are largely consistent with the literature on immigrant children in Western countries (e.g., Kang, 2006). However, the experiences of internally migrant children within China may be different from those of internationally immigrant children (e.g., migrant children typically do not encounter language barriers or issues related to ethnicity/race). The acculturation and school adjustment of migrant children in China should be understood with their distinct experiences taken into account. Third, there are diverse groups among migrant families in China. Considerable differences in social and economic development exist across rural regions, which are likely reflected in the functioning of migrant families (Gu et al., 2010). Migrant families also vary in other aspects, such as social support systems and social-cultural backgrounds. In addition, migrant parents may have different expectations of their children in terms of future education and career development. It will be important to investigate the effects of these factors on school adjustment of migrant children. Finally, due to regional differences, rural-to-urban migration is a common issue in many developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (e.g., Brazil, India, e.g., Goksen & Cemalcilar, 2010; Mishra, 2016; United Nation, 2013). A major reason for internal migration in these countries is to seek higher incomes and better opportunities for the family, which are similar to that in China (Goksen & Cemalcilar, 2010; Saracoglu & Roe, 2004). This study may help us understand school adjustment of migrant children in these countries. However, given the specific traditions and social and cultural conditions of each nation, one needs to be careful in generalizing our results to other societies. 4.4. Implications The results indicated that, students from migrant families in China performed more competently in social and academic areas than non-migrant students in the school. Acculturation modes and strategies were associated with migrant students' adjustment. Whereas accommodation to urban culture (e.g., learning new social and cultural standards and acquiring support in the city) was particularly important for social and academic achievement, an integration of urban and rural values and lifestyles was beneficial for psychological wellbeing, which was consistent with the findings of other research (e.g., Berry, 1997; Chen & Tse, 2010). These results constituted a significant contribution to our understanding of school adjustment of rural migrant children in urban China and, more broadly, the involvement of experiences in shaping students' social behaviors, peer relationships, and academic achievement. The study also has specific practical implications. For example, the results concerning the school adjustment of migrant children indicate that the experience of adverse social and family circumstances can be constructive for the development of competence. It has been argued that researchers and professionals should identify the strengths or positive attributes of migrant children, such as the ability to cope with stress and overcome difficulties, and promote social interaction and integration among migrant and non-migrant children (Gu et al., 2010). Research has also shown that the development of beliefs about self-strengthening helps children from families with economic disadvantage on academic achievement and psychological adjustment (Shek et al., 2003; Zhao et al., 2013). 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