| The group of left-behind children is a unique social phenomenon brought about by the rapid economic development of our country,which has been concerned by all sectors of society since its emergence.The left-behind children are separated from their parents all the year round,and the lack of parent-child relationship makes the psychological problems of left-behind children,especially the insecure attachment of left-behind children,need to be solved urgently.Attachment is a kind of affectionate connection between young children and their caregivers.Attachment plays an irreplaceable role in the infancy of the individual;similarly,it continues to play a key role in the rest of the individual’s life.The attachment relationship between early childhood and caregivers is one of the most important social relations of young children.The experience of insecure attachment in early childhood is likely to become a stumbling block to the physical and mental development and socialization of young children,which directly hinders the perfection of personality in the process of growth.Under the influence of Chinese traditional culture,it is very common for grandparents to bear the responsibility of raising grandchildren in rural areas of our country.Left-behind children live mainly with their grandparents.Mind-mindedness captures a caregiver’s attunement to his or her infant’s mental states,including emotions,preferences,motives and goals,and the tendency to interpret behavior as resulting from these mental states.Previous studies have shown that the mind-mindedness of caregivers affects the quality of parent-child interaction.From the point of view of left-behind children’s ancestral caregivers,this study examines the relationship between ancestral mind-mindedness and attachment insecurity of young children.This study hopes to provide research support for improving the insecure attachment of young children from the perspective of the family,and provide a reference for the intergenerational education of left-behind children.In this study,guided by family system theory and attachment theory,a moderated mediation model was constructed to examine the effects and underlying mechanisms of caregiver’s mind-mindedness,child’s theory of mind,and types of left-behind on child-caregiver attachment insecurity among young children in rural China.Specifically,the present study examined whether caregiver’s mind-mindedness is indirectly related to child-caregiver attachment insecurity through child’s theory of mind,and whether this indirect association is moderated by types of left-behind.A total of 163 children in rural China(mean age 5.26 ± 1.09 years,range 3.00～6.96 years;71 boys,92 girls;74 left-behind,89 non-left-behind)and their major caregivers were measured using Mind-mindedness Interview.Theory-of-Mind Scale,and Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory.The data in this study were collected through family visits.The results showed that:(1)there was a significant difference in mind-mindedness between left-behind and non-left-behind young children’s caregivers’,and the level of mind-mindedness of left-behind young children’s caregivers was significantly lower than that of non-left-behind young children’s caregivers.(2)There was a significant difference in attachment insecurity between left-behind children and non-left-behind children,and the level of attachment insecurity of left-behind children was significantly higher than that of non-left-behind children.(3)There was a significant difference in theory of mind between left-behind children and non-left-behind children,and the level of theory of mind of left-behind children was significantly lower than that of non-left-behind children.(4)The positive impact of caregiver’s mind-mindedness on child-caregiver attachment insecurity was mediated by child’s theory of mind;and(5)the mediating effect of child’s theory of mind was moderated by types of left-behind.Specifically,the mediating effect was significant in left-behind children,but not in non-left-behind children.The above results show that the left-behind family environment aggravates the attachment insecurity of young children caused by the low theory of mind of rural children.For left-behind children,the low level of mind-mindedness of caregivers is not conducive to the development of children’s theory of mind,which leads to the formation of attachment insecurity of young children.For non-left-behind children,only the caregiver’s mind-mindedness has the influence on children’s theory of mind,but has not found the influence of the young children’s theory of mind on children’s attaclunent insecurity. |
