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Xu, Y., Chen, S., Ye, Y., Wen, W., Zhen, R., & Zhou, X. (2025). Childhood Neglect, Depression, and Academic Burnout in Left-Behind Children in China: Understanding the Roles of Feelings of Insecurity and Self-Esteem. Child Protection and Practice, 5, Article 100168.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chipro.2025.100168

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: A Study on the Subtle Emotional Needs Signals of Left-Behind Children and Teachers’ Compensation Strategies in Rural Kindergartens in Chinese Mainland: An Exploration Based on Interviews and Qualitative Analysis

  AUTHORS: Ziyue Wei

  KEYWORDS: Left-Behind Children, Subtle Emotional Needs Signals, Rural Kindergarten Teachers, Compensation Strategies, Grounded Theory

  JOURNAL NAME: Open Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.14 No.9, September 2, 2026

  ABSTRACT: This research adopts the interview survey method and grounded theory, focusing on 100 teachers in Chinese Mainland’s rural kindergartens, and systematically explores the subtle emotional needs signals and characteristics of rural left-behind children in the daily situation of kindergartens, as well as the compensation strategies spontaneously formed by teachers in practice. Through in-depth interviews and three-level coding analysis, four typical forms of emotional needs signals for left-behind children were identified, and the triggering mechanism of teachers’ “unique caregiving alertness” and their self-created compensation strategy system were revealed. Research has found that in the context of parents’ absence for work and the influence of traditional Chinese educational concepts on the grandparents, left-behind children face suppressed emotional expression, and their emotional needs signals exhibit characteristics of attenuation and alienation; The compensatory care developed by rural kindergarten teachers based on their educational intuition and accumulated experience has to some extent alleviated the emotional deprivation of left-behind children, but its sustainability faces practical challenges such as emotional labor overload and lack of professional support. This research provides a scientific basis for the practice of kindergarten education and teacher training under the background of family absence in Chinese Mainland, and also provides unique case references for the preschool education field in other countries.