| Previous studies have found that adolescents with left-behind experiences were prone to emotional problems and somatic symptoms due to early lack of social support.As a predictor of somatization,alexithymia might also be affected by the left-behind experience.In this study,those who have left at least one of parents,have been staying or have stayed for more than two years,were regarded as junior high school students with left-behind experience,and the relationships among their classmate support,alexithymia and the somatization were investigated.Based on these,interventions to reduce their alexithymia and somatization were designed and implemented.In the first study,junior high school students were selected from the 7th to 9th grades in two rural middle schools in a certain city of Henan Province,including 553 junior high school students who had left-behind experience,and 189 junior high school students who did not have.The characteristics and relationships among classmate support,alexithymia and somatization were analyzed through questionnaires.It showed that(1)overall,the difference in classmate support between students with and without left-behind experience was not significant.In terms of alexithymia and somatization,junior high school students with left-behind experience scored significantly higher than those without left-behind experience.(2)For junior high school students with left-behind experience,males’ classmate support decreased gradually with the increase in grades,namely,the scores in the ninth grade were significantly lower than that in the eighth grade and the seventh grade.Females’ classmate support was not obvious with the grade increasing.Classmate support from girls in the ninth grade scored significantly higher than that of boys of the same grade,whereas the gender difference was not significant among students in the seventh and eighth grades.(3)The somatization symptoms of junior high school with left-behind experience had a tendency to aggravate as grades increased.The somatization severity of students in the ninth grade was significantly higher than those in the seventh grade,and the somatization symptoms of girls were not significantly different in each grade.(4)Classmate support had a significantly negative prediction on alexithymia and somatization,in which the alexithymia played a partially mediating role in the influence of classmate support on somatization.In the second study,12 junior high school students with left-behind experience were selected to form a counseling group.With classmate support as a resource,the intervention program was designed according to the theory of alexithymia,and eight-times interventions were conducted.The results indicated that interventions were effective,and scores in alexithymia and somatization were significantly lower after intervention than before intervention.Conclusions were as follows:(1)The alexithymia and somatization symptoms of junior high school students with left-behind experience scored significantly higher than those without left-behind experience.The left-behind experience was a risk factor that caused alexithymia and somatic symptoms.(2)Good classmate support could directly reduce the somatic symptoms of left-behind junior high school students,as well as lessen the somatization symptoms by lessen the alexithymia.The alexithymia had a partial mediating effect on classmate support and somatization.(3)It was feasible to use classmate support as a resource to lessen the alexithymia and somatic symptoms of junior high school students with left-behind experience.The intervention programs were remarkably effective. |
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