Psychosocial Well-Being of School-Aged Children Born to Bereaved (Shidu) Families: Associations with Mothers’ Quality of Life and Involvement Behaviors

Abstract

Parents who lost their only child in the 12 May 2018 Wenchuan earthquake came to be known as the “shidu” (loss of an only child) parents. After the earthquake, they were beneficiaries of free reproductive health services, and most had another child. This study focuses on the psychosocial well-being of those children born to the shidu parents, and explores factors associated with mothers’ quality of life (QoL) and their involvement with their children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two primary schools in Wenchuan County. A sample of 192 families was analyzed (147 non-shidu and 45 shidu). The statistical analyses indicated that the children of shidu families had poorer peer relationships than children of non-shidu families. Moreover, shidu mothers’ expectations of their children’s achievements were significantly lower than for non-shidu mothers, but there was no statistically significant difference in the QoL between them. Additionally, a higher home-based involvement of mothers was found to be moderately associated with peer relationship problems of children in shidu families. Therefore, we suggest a future research focus on developing joint activities for parents and children that help to increase emotional communication for the psychosocial development of children in shidu families after disasters in China.