BECE. Newsletter 

BECE, Vol.9, No.2, 2021 1276 

 

 

 

 

Does Being Left Behind Estrange the Peer Relation-

ship? An Empirical Analysis Based on CEPS 

By Qian, J., Hao, Y.P. 
Correspondence to: Qian, J, Central China Normal University. E-mail: 

qianjia@mail.ccnu.edu.cn  

EER relationships can not only reflect the intimacy and harmony in chil-

dren’s interaction with others, but also represent an important aspect of 

children's socialization and a key indicator of social adaptation. The absence 

of family education from parents may lead to deviations in the behavior of 

left-behind children, making them more likely to be rejected by their peers in 

the process of socialization. This paper uses the data of 2013-2014 baseline 

survey, China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) and adopts the propensity 

score matching method (PSM) to explore whether staying behind will affect 

children’s peer interactions? Is there a causal relationship, and to what extent? 

Is there heterogeneity among different groups? 

This study defines the peer relationship as a dependent variable, stay-

ing behind as an independent variable, and staying behind as the state with 

one or both parents leaving home for employment, and other control varia-

bles including age, gender, and grade are used. 

First, using the least squares method, with peer relationship as the de-

pendent variable and staying behind as the core independent variable for re-

gression, the results show that staying behind experience has a negative im-

pact on the construction of students' peer relationships. 

Then, using staying behind as the dependent variable and the selected 

covariate as the independent variable, the Logit model is established. The re-

gression results show that male students whose ethnicity is Han, being only 

child and in seventh grade, and with fathers of low level of education are 

more likely to be left behind. The results of the probability model of propen-

sity score show that there is a non-negligible heterogeneity between the left- 

 

 
 

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mailto:qianjia@mail.ccnu.edu.cn


 

BECE, Vol.9, No.2, 2021 1277 

 

behind and the non-left-behind. In order to ensure the accuracy of the result 

of propensity matching scores, this study carried out a balance test, and the 

matching effect and estimation results were good, and at the same time, the 

common support hypothesis was satisfied. 

After that, by matching the samples according to different left-behind 

status, different grades, different genders, and whether they are boarding stu-

dents, this paper studied the heterogeneity of the impact of staying behind on 

the peer relationship of students. It is concluded that the negative impact of 

staying behind on the peer relationship of students is more prominent among 

those seventh grade non-boarding boy students (the younger ones in the 

sample) with fathers leaving home. 

Finally, based on the use of the PSM method, the propensity score is 

incorporated as a new variable into the regression model, to establish a re-

gression model that effectively controls the sample selection bias. According 

to the results of Sharpley value decomposition, staying behind can contribute 

3.75% to the explainable variation of peer relationships, that is, left-behind 

students are in a "relatively disadvantaged position" in terms of peer relation-

ship construction.  

Based on above findings, this research puts forward several sugges-

tions: 

 Strengthen psychological guidance for the key development stag-

es of the socialization of left-behind children, because schools 

and teachers play a guiding role in the construction of student 

peer relationships. 

 Emphasize parents’ family education responsibilities to left-

behind children, and guide migrant worker parents to pay atten-

tion to the mental health, peer communication and social commu-

nication of left-behind children. 

 Further reform the urban and rural household registration system, 

solve the problem of schooling for children living with migrant 

parents, turn population mobility from "individual mobility" to 

"family mobility", and change the state of "parent-child separa-

tion". 

 

Source: Education and Economy, 2021;(04):48-55+80.