The impact of boarding on campus on the social-emotional competence of left-behind children in rural western China

This study aimed to determine if boarding on campus benefited left-behind children’s social-emotional competence (SEC). We developed a SEC scale for the Chinese context and culture using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability analysis. Data were collected from 6638 school-aged children from 74 rural boarding schools in 11 provinces in western China. The results indicated that children’s SEC was significantly affected by being left-behind, living on campus, and their cross-effects. Left-behind children had lower levels of SEC than those under parental guardianship. Children living on campus had fewer positive SEC skills than those who commuted between home and school. We also found that left-behind children living on campus had a higher negative SEC than left-behind children who were commuting every day. The SEC of left-behind but commuting children was higher than that of non-left-behind boarding school students. Food quality and caregivers’ service attitudes also significantly affected children’s SEC. Children who received good or medium quality food and good service from caregivers had higher SEC than those with poorer food and service. In conclusion, boarding on campus negatively affects left-behind children’s SEC. This suggests that more attention should be directed to the negative effects of boarding on campus, and boarding condition, and improving food quality and caregivers’ service.