With the continuing advancement of industrialization and urbanization in China, many rural laborers have relocated to urban areas for employment, resulting in over 20 million left-behind children enrolled in compulsory education in rural areas in 2020 (Lyu et al., 2024). These children face developmental problems stemming from a long-term lack of emotional support and neglected internal needs. This situation has garnered widespread social concerns. The term rural left-behind children refers to minors who remain in rural areas while one or both of their parents migrate to an urban area to find employment (Fan et al., 2016). The lack of parental companionship and effective supervision has raised concerns about the mental health of these children, prompting extensive academic research.

 

The development of positive psychology means researchers are increasingly focusing not just on the negative aspects but also on the positive aspects of left-behind children. Psychological health should not be defined only by the absence of mental illness but should also be identified by positive states (Antaramian et al., 2010). For example, subjective well-being, which is an important indicator of mental health and a core topic in positive psychology, refers to individuals’ overall assessment of their quality of life based on self-defined standards, and encompasses life satisfaction, and positive and negative emotions (Diener et al., 1985). When children lack subjective well-being, they are more likely to exhibit problematic behaviors, such as academic burnout, aggressive behavior, and poor adaptation (Hascher, 2008). Studies have shown that rural left-behind children generally have lower subjective well-being than their peers with both living parents at home (Fan et al., 2016). Therefore, exploring the factors and mechanisms influencing the subjective well-being of left-behind children is crucial.

Subjective well-being results from the interaction of internal and external factors (Diener, 2000). Social support is a crucial external variable influencing subjective well-being (Thomas, 2010), which encompasses feeling loved, valued, and being part of a supportive network (Cobb, 1976). Social support provides material and psychological assistance, helps the supported individual to solve problems, and enhances life satisfaction and happiness. Having robust social support can foster positive emotions and a favorable outlook on life (Cohen & Wills, 1985), while reducing negative emotions (Jacobson et al., 2017).

 

Receiving social support can influence individuals’ cognitive evaluations and enhance their adaptability to the environment (Lin & Yeh, 2014). The main effect model of social support suggests that social support has a beneficial function, helping the individual to maintain positive emotional experiences and promoting good mental health (Acoba, 2024). According to the buffering model of social support, the negative impact of stressful events on individuals can be buffered by social support, protecting them from adverse factors (Uchino, 2006). Social support is an important variable in maintaining a positive emotional state and mitigating psychological stress, thereby influencing individual subjective well-being. Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Social support will positively predict the subjective well-being of left-behind children in rural China.

Previous studies of left-behind children have tended to focus on negative behaviors and psychological traits, while neglecting the positive (see, e.g., Shao et al., 2018). The development of positive psychology has prompted researchers to focus more on intrinsic positive psychological traits, such as grit. Defined as perseverance and enduring enthusiasm for long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007), grit has been found to be positively correlated with positive emotions and life satisfaction, making it a significant predictor of subjective well-being (Singh & Jha, 2008). This aligns with character strengths theory, in which it is posited that virtues such as grit function as psychological resources to enhance life satisfaction and promote happiness (Petersen & Seligman, 2004).

 

Individuals with high levels of grit excel in self-regulation and adopt a proactive lifestyle. Even in challenging situations, they strive to maintain positive emotions and expectations, thereby sustaining an optimal psychological state (Datu et al., 2016). By viewing adversity as an opportunity for growth, they persistently pursue life goals, which generates a sense of achievement when they succeed in attaining a goal, and reinforces positive emotions. Research has indicated that goal-oriented perseverance enhances life satisfaction and fosters lasting happiness (Singh & Jha, 2008).

 

Scholars have demonstrated that social support significantly strengthens grit, and establishing robust support systems is effective in elevating individual grit levels (Ramsey & Wilson, 2018). Having a positive and supportive environment enables individuals to maintain consistent enthusiasm and sustained commitment to their goals. For example, when children are in adverse circumstances, having the support and trust of their parents, teachers, and peers empowers them to cultivate resilience, overcome challenges, regulate negative emotions, restore psychological well-being, and, ultimately, enhance their grit (Ling et al., 2021). Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2: Grit will mediate the relationship between social support and subjective well-being among left-behind children in rural China.

Hope is a positive psychological quality and an important psychological resource that serves as a main motivating force in life (Muhammad et al., 2020). It is based on the interaction of two components: pathways, which refer to an individual's perception of ways to achieve a goal, and agency, which is the motivation that drives the individual (Snyder, 2002). Having hope helps individuals cope with stress and develop positive psychology, and it acts as a protective factor in risky situations. Hope also aids in emotion regulation and psychological adaptation, thereby having a positive effect on emotions, life satisfaction, and quality of life (Chang et al., 2019; Rock et al., 2014). Demirli et al. (2015) found that hope significantly predicts subjective well-being, with higher levels of hope being associated with greater well-being

 

Doolittle and Farrell (2004) showed that social support is an important predictor of hope, as increased social support can help individuals feel less stressed and more hopeful when facing difficulties. Having a robust social support system aids individuals in recovering from injuries, maintaining well-being, increasing hope, and reducing loneliness and depression risk (Rueger et al., 2016). Social support also decreases negative emotions, thereby inhibiting factors that threaten well-being. Zhou (2013) showed that hope mediated the relationship between social support and well-being among college students. Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3: Hope will mediate the relationship between social support and subjective well-being of left-behind children in rural China.

Grit and hope are both psychological characteristics that are helpful in coping with adversity and are often studied as mediating variables between the environment and the individual (Ekinci & Koç, 2023; Munoz, 2023). These two characteristics are referred to as the power of the human spirit and are closely related to life success and mental and physical health (Guerrero et al., 2016). Grit involves effort and passion toward long-term goals, whereas hope is a dynamic cognitive system concerning goals and a belief in one’s ability to achieve them (Rand et al., 2012). Both grit and hope are future-oriented behaviors, serve as positive psychological resources, and are favorable personality traits. The passion and effort components of grit help activate an individual’s motivational system and pathway thinking related to hope. Research has confirmed that grit positively predicts hope, such that individuals with high (vs. low) levels of grit show greater hope about their tasks and gain rich positive emotional experiences from them (Lucas et al., 2015). This predictive relationship holds even under conditions of frustration (Gratch et al., 2015). Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 4: Grit and hope will act as chain mediators of the relationship between social support and subjective well-being among left-behind children in rural China.

This research was approved by the Ethics Committee and Institutional Review Board of Weifang University before we commenced the study. We used cluster sampling with classes as the unit to select children in Grades 4 to 6 at four rural primary schools in Shandong and Jiangxi Provinces, China: Mjiahe Primary School, Wanshan Primary School, Fangcao Primary School, and Daongdaotiao  Primary School. After obtaining permission from the principal at each school, we asked teachers to explain the purpose of the survey to parents and students, and both parents and students signed consent forms. Participation was voluntary. The survey form was distributed in the classroom during the students’ self-study time, completed following detailed instructions from the trained head teachers, and collected immediately after completion. Out of 612 collected survey forms, 604 were valid (effective response rate = 98.7%). The sample comprised 343 (56.8%) left-behind children and 261 (43.2%) non-left-behind children. A left-behind child was defined as living in a rural area with at least one parent absent for work for more than 6 months in a year. Given that our research was specifically focused on left-behind children, we excluded the data from the non-left-behind children from the subsequent analysis. Among the left-behind children included in the final analysis, there were 158 (45.1%) boys and 185 (53.9%) girls, aged between 10 and 14 years (M = 11.76, SD = 0.80). Regarding grade level, 108 (31.5%) were in the fourth grade, 117 (34.1%) were in the fifth grade, and 118 (34.4%) were in the sixth grade.

To measure the social support of left-behind children, we used the self-report measure developed by Wang et al. (1999). The scale consists of 10 questions spanning three dimensions: subjective support (four questions, e.g., “Do you feel that someone cares for, supports, and understands you when you need it?”), objective support (three questions, e.g., “How many close friends do you have from whom you can receive support and help?”), and support utilization (three questions, e.g., “Do you seek help from family, friends, colleagues, or organizations when you encounter troubles?”). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Scores are averaged to determine the level of social support. Cronbach’s alpha was .95 in this study.

To measure the hope of left-behind children, we used the 12-item self-report measure developed by Snyder et al. (2000) and translated into Chinese by Shi and Tian (2009). The scale consists of two dimensions: motivational thinking (six items, e.g., “I am energetic and never-ending in pursuing my goal”) and path thinking (six items, e.g., “I can think of many ways to get out of trouble”). Four of the items are distractors and do not contribute to the total score. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely incorrect) to 5 (completely correct). Scores are averaged to determine the level of hope. Cronbach’s alpha was .94 in this study.

To measure the grit of left-behind children, we used the self-report measure developed by Duckworth et al. (2007) and later translated into Chinese by Xie et al. (2017). The scale consists of 12 items and includes two dimensions: perseverance of effort (six items, e.g., “I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge”) and consistency of interest (six items, e.g., “My interests change from year to year”). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). Scores are averaged to determine the level of grit. Cronbach’s alpha was .88 in this study.

To measure the subjective well-being of left-behind children we used a validated Chinese version (X. Zhang et al., 2004) of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (Watson et al., 1988), which was revised into Chinese by Qiu et al. (2008). The Satisfaction With Life Scale consists of five items (e.g., “In most ways my life is close to my ideal”) rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely incorrect) to 5 (completely correct). Cronbach’s alpha was .88 in this study. The Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale includes nine words describing positive emotions (e.g., “happy”) or negative emotions (e.g., “sad”). Participants rate each item based on their experiences over the preceding week using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very mild or none) to 5 (very strong), with higher scores indicating stronger emotional experiences. Cronbach’s alphas for the positive and negative emotion subscales were .89 and .93, respectively. As suggested by Thrash et al. (2010), subjective well-being was calculated as the sum of life satisfaction z scores + positive emotions z scores − negative emotions z scores.

We used SPSS 26.0 software to analyze the data.

We used Harman’s single-factor test to check for common method bias (Hao & Long, 2004; Podsakoff & Organ, 1986) and found that eight factors had eigenvalues greater than 1. The variance explanation rate of the first factor was 32.4%, which is less than the critical value standard of 40%. Thus, the factors in this study were within the acceptable range relative to the influence of common method bias.

Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations for the study variables. We found positive correlations among the four variables of social support, subjective well-being, grit, and hope.

The mediating effects were evaluated using PROCESS Model 4 for SPSS (Hayes, 2018). Table 2 shows the results after controlling for gender and grade. Social support significantly and positively predicted left-behind children’s subjective well-being, social support significantly and positively predicted both grit and hope, and grit and hope significantly and positively predicted subjective well-being. These results supported the hypotheses proposed in this study.

Table 3 shows that there were significant mediating effects of grit and hope individually, and also grit and hope as chain mediators. We conducted a bootstrapping analysis with 5,000 resamples and calculated 95% confidence intervals.

We explored the internal mechanism of subjective well-being among left-behind children at rural schools in two provinces in China from the perspective of positive psychology. The research results confirmed Diener’s (2000) view that external and internal factors interact to influence subjective well-being, and also further supported the main effect and buffering effect models of social support.

We found that social support significantly and positively predicted the subjective well-being of left-behind children. On one hand, when children perceive that they have strong social support, this helps fill the emotional void, reduce feelings of loneliness and helplessness, and provide psychological comfort and spiritual solace (Y. Zhang et al., 2021). On the other hand, social support can provide material assistance, helping left-behind children solve various difficulties by offering them daily necessities including hygiene products and warm clothing to enhance their quality of life; equipping them with learning tools like computers, tablets, and books to make up for the lack of educational resources because of parental absence; and providing assistance in daily care such as accompanying them on medical visits and buying medicine to protect their physical well-being in the absence of parental supervision (Y. Zhang et al., 2021). Positive social support replenishes the resources depleted when coping with stress, buffers the negative impacts of adverse factors, and helps left-behind children maintain a positive state, thereby fulfilling an emotional void, reducing feelings of loneliness and helplessness, offering psychological comfort and spiritual solace, increasing life satisfaction, and enhancing the experience of well-being (Wei, 2015).

We found that grit mediated the relationship between social support and subjective well-being among left-behind children. Support from parents, teachers, and peers can boost individual grit levels (Ramsey & Wilson, 2018). Positive social support fosters the formation and development of grit. Left-behind children with strong social support have more social resources than do those with less support, motivating them to mobilize psychological energy to face difficulties (Fan et al., 2023). Confronting challenges can help develop grit. We found that social support and grit positively predicted subjective well-being. As a positive character trait, grit has a positive impact on individual cognition, emotions, and behavior. For left-behind children in disadvantaged situations, it can help them cope actively with various difficulties and challenges. When they overcome these difficulties or challenges, it brings them a sense of achievement, thereby contributing to the improvement of their psychological well-being. Grit is positively correlated with positive emotions and can predict an individual’s stress levels and mental health, thus influencing life satisfaction and happiness (Singh & Jha, 2008). As a character strength, grit positively impacts emotions, behaviors, and cognition (Seligman, 2002). It helps left-behind children view setbacks rationally, provides positive psychological energy to overcome difficulties, and enables them to experience positive emotions such as achievement, value, and self-confidence, ultimately improving their well-being (Kong et al., 2025).

 

Our results demonstrated that grit fully mediated the relationship between social support and the subjective well-being of left-behind children. Previous studies have shown that social support—specifically, that from parents, teachers, and peers—can foster the development of grit by providing instrumental resources and emotional validation (Liu et al., 2025; Ramsey & Wilson, 2018). Support from parents is of great significance for left-behind children. Cai et al. (2025) reported finding that loneliness and perceived social support mediated the link between emotional warmth from parents and the mental health of rural left-behind children. Left-behind children with robust support systems, including support from family members, teachers and school staff, peers, and also the government, can better mobilize psychological resources to confront challenges, thereby strengthening their grit.

We found that hope mediated the relationship between social support and the subjective well-being of left-behind children. When left-behind children receive strong social support, they feel more cared for and recognized. This reduces their psychological stress, boosts their positive self-evaluation, increases their hope for the future, and fills them with confidence (Fu et al., 2019; Ling et al., 2020). Social support is a key way to build hope (Fu et al., 2019). For left-behind children, hope acts as a protective factor against the negative psychological impacts of parental separation, such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. It buffers the stressors associated with living apart from parents, helps maintain emotional stability, and is useful in coping with adversity (Fan et al., 2016; Snyder, 2002). Individuals with high levels of hope can shift their focus away from negative events (Kaleta & Mróz, 2020). These individuals are more likely than others are to perceive positive signals from their experiences, focus on positive future expectations, and adopt proactive coping strategies to overcome challenges (Song et al., 2022). Therefore, compared to those who do not feel hopeful, left-behind children with high levels of hope are more likely to recognize the positive aspects of daily life, view adverse situations optimistically, evaluate their lives positively, and achieve higher levels of subjective well-being.

We found that grit and hope acted as chain mediators of the relationship between social support and the subjective well-being of left-behind children. According to the resilience protection model, in stressful situations, protective factors mitigate the adverse effects of risk factors on individual development (Garmezy et al., 1984). As positive coping mechanisms, grit and hope take protective roles for left-behind children facing negative events. Having a strong support system fosters grit, which, in turn, enhances hope. Specifically, the sustained passion inherent in grit drives children to maintain enthusiasm for their goals, providing motivational support and awakening the motivational component of hope. The persistence and effort in showing grit help individuals learn strategies to cope with difficulties, thereby cultivating their pathway thinking abilities (Muhammad et al., 2020). Thus, grit activates the motivation to pursue goals and enhances the perception of pathways to achieve them, increasing hope levels.

 

Compared with other left-behind children, those who have greater hope are more likely to adopt positive coping strategies when in adverse situations (Snyder et al., 2000). They are also more likely to experience less anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions, and to have relatively greater life satisfaction (Snyder, 1994). Conversely, when left-behind children with lower levels of hope are facing stress, they tend to use negative coping strategies such as denial and avoidance, which are accompanied by more negative emotions, reducing their level of well-being. Having positive social support can help left-behind children develop more resilient qualities, thereby further improving their level of hope and enhancing their subjective well-being.

In conclusion, although researchers should address the negative psychological issues of left-behind children, the focus should also be on identifying and cultivating the positive traits that these children possess. The positive psychological qualities of hope and grit are cognitive and behavioral tendencies that can be cultivated and developed. It is important to guide left-behind children to recognize and leverage these positive traits. To enhance their subjective well-being, those guiding these children should utilize external resources effectively in combination with their internal strengths to promote good mental health and prevent psychological and behavioral problems.

This study has limitations. First, although cross-sectional studies built on theoretical foundations can provide valuable information, cross-sectional research based on self-reported data has limitations in establishing causality. In future studies researchers could use a longitudinal design to compensate for this shortcoming. Second, the sample comprised only left-behind children in Shandong and Jiangxi Provinces, and the sample size was small and not representative of the overall situation of left-behind children in China. Therefore, whether the conclusions can be extrapolated to other regions needs to be examined.  Future studies could increase and enrich the sample size and scope. Third, the relationship between social support and subjective well-being may also be affected by other factors. Research could be conducted to explore further other mechanisms affecting the subjective well-being of left-behind children.

In this research we found that social support significantly and positively predicts the subjective well-being of left-behind children. Grit played a mediating role in the relationship between social support and children’s subjective well-being, as did hope. Further, grit and hope played a chain mediating role between social support and subjective well-being of left-behind children. The findings have implications for enhancing happiness in this group.

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