IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cwi/minnov/v3y2025i2p17-59.html

Relational Foundations of Mental Health: Exploring the Influence of Parents, Peers, and Teachers on Chinese Boarding School Students across Developmental Stages

Author

Listed:
  • Lehan Yang

    (University of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK)

Abstract

This study investigated how the quality of parent, peer, and teacher relationships predicts mental health difficulties—including emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and peer problems—among students in Chinese boarding schools. Using a cross-sectional design and hierarchical multiple regression analysis, data were collected from 992 students across grades 4, 7, and 10. Relationship quality was assessed via validated subdimensions of trust, communication, and alienation. The results showed that relational alienation, conceptualized as emotional disconnection and perceived rejection, emerged as the most robust and consistent predictor of psychological difficulties across all relationship domains. This pattern held across developmental stages, challenging the assumption that early adolescence is uniquely vulnerable. Gender moderation analyses revealed that boys were particularly sensitive to teacher trust, whereas girls responded more strongly to teacher communication, reflecting culturally situated relational dynamics. These findings underscore the need for continuous, culturally sensitive, and gender-responsive strategies to strengthen relational support and reduce psychological difficulties in residential school settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Lehan Yang, 2025. "Relational Foundations of Mental Health: Exploring the Influence of Parents, Peers, and Teachers on Chinese Boarding School Students across Developmental Stages," Management & Innovation, Berger Science Press, vol. 3(2), pages 17-59, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cwi:minnov:v:3:y:2025:i:2:p:17-59
    DOI: 10.61187/ts.v3i2.247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://bergersci.com/index.php/ts/article/view/247/71
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://bergersci.com/index.php/ts/article/view/247
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.61187/ts.v3i2.247?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Mengqi & Villa, Kira M., 2020. "Solution or isolation: Is boarding school a good solution for left-behind children in rural China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bin Tang & Yue Wang & Yujuan Gao & Shijin Wu & Haoyang Li & Yang Chen & Yaojiang Shi, 2020. "The Effect of Boarding on the Mental Health of Primary School Students in Western Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Li, Hao & Law, Wilbert & Zhang, Xiao & Xiao, Nan, 2023. "Social support and emotional well-being among boarders and day school students: A two-wave longitudinal study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Zhuang, Jia & Chaskin, Robert & Wu, Qiaobing & Chen, Jiaxin & Fu, Linyun, 2025. "Academic resilience of Chinese rural left-behind adolescents: a multisystemic perspective," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    4. Yue Zhang & Xiaodong Zheng, 2022. "Internal migration and child health: An investigation of health disparities between migrant children and left-behind children in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-15, March.
    5. Yunsen Li & Guochang Zhao & Yunlu Li & Liang Luo, 2023. "School Boarding and Students’ Prosocial Behaviors: Evidence from Rural China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(3), pages 115-139, May.
    6. Lehan Yang, 2025. "Relational Foundations of Mental Health: Exploring the Influence of Parents, Peers, and Teachers on Chinese Boarding School Students across Developmental Stages," Trends in Sociology, Berger Science Press, vol. 3(2), pages 17-59, October.
    7. Zheng, Xiaodong & Fang, Zuyi & Wang, Yajun & Fang, Xiangming, 2022. "When left-behind children become adults and parents: The long-term human capital consequences of parental absence in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. Yuli Ye & Qinying He & Qiang Li & Lian An, 2024. "The brother's penalty: Boy preference and girls' health in rural China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1748-1771, August.
    9. Wei, Binhui & Wang, Runtao & Lin, Xiakaifeng & Zhao, Chunkai & Luo, Mingzhong, 2024. "The long-term effect of childhood left-behind experiences on entrepreneurial activities in adulthood: Empirical evidence from China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cwi:minnov:v:3:y:2025:i:2:p:17-59. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Berger Science Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.bergersci.com/index.php/mi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.