Teacher support, peer support, and externalizing problems among left-behind children in rural China: Sequential mediation by self-esteem and self-control

Social support can mitigate the negative effects of being left-behind for children on adverse outcomes like externalizing problems. Self-esteem and self-control were found to be positively associated with social support and negatively with children’s externalizing problems. This study aimed to investigate whether self-esteem and self-control mediated the associations of teacher support and peer support with externalizing problems. Survey data were gathered from a cross-sectional study of left-behind children in a rural region in Henan Province, China (N = 301). Structural equation modelling indicated that the associations of teacher support and peer support with externalizing problems were mediated by self-esteem and in turn self-control. Peer support, but not teacher support, was negatively and directly linked to externalizing problems above the mediation effect. This study indicated a sequential mediation model from teacher and peer support to left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors via self-esteem and in turn self-control. These findings may provide some guidance for the intervention programs to reduce externalizing problems in left-behind children.