Exploring the Impact of Parental Absence on Parent-Child Relationships of Left-Behind Preschool Children in Rural China Through Family Dynamics Drawing Test

Exploring the Impact of Parental Absence on Parent-Child Relationships of Left-Behind Preschool Children in Rural China Through Family Dynamics Drawing Test | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Exploring the Impact of Parental Absence on Parent-Child Relationships of Left-Behind Preschool Children in Rural China Through Family Dynamics Drawing Test Yao Wang, Xuelan Liu, Weijun Wang, Guangming Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7983726/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study aimed to investigate the status and main factors of parent-child relationship among rural preschool left-behind children in China. Data were 436 children, aged 4–6 years, randomly selected from 15 kindergartens. Guided by the theme "My Story with Mum and Dad", participants were instructed to complete Kinetic Family Drawings (KFD). This study used a mixed-methods approach, which integrated standardized questionnaires, behavioral assessments, and a systematic analysis of drawing indicators (e.g., the sequence of characters and symbolic elements). The analysis revealed that left-behind children demonstrated significantly lower scores in parent-child relationship quality than non-left-behind children ( t = -12.379, p = 0.001). The results showed that: (1) prolonged parental absence can have a serious impact on the parent-child relationship; (2) mothers are the most important family members in a child’s life; (3) left-behind children demonstrate a paradoxical psychological response to father absence, manifesting both defensive avoidance and underlying longing for paternal connection.; (4) left-behind children lack the care and attention they deserve. Rural preschool left-behind children Parental absence Parent-child relationship Family dynamics drawing test Public health Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 1 Introduction Left-behind children are a social phenomenon arising from China's socio-economic transition, characterized by large-scale migration of rural labor to urban areas within the framework of the urban-rural dual structure. This migration has led to the emergence of left-behind families and intergenerational caregiving in rural areas. In 2016, there were 9.02 million left-behind children under the age of 16 in China (Wang et al., 2020). Being left behind by a parent is a major, life-transforming event, often overwhelming a young child’s ability to cope, and one of the most critical and urgent issues that arises is the breakdown of the poor parent-child relationship (State Council, 2016 ). Poor parent-child relationships negatively impact children's mental health and can trigger behavioral problems. Such relational deficits may be associated with conduct disorders, psychosis, suicidality, and delinquency in children. For example, Wu ( 2011 ) found that left-behind children lacked emotional satisfaction and protection from their families, which led to a decrease in their sense of family identification; communication between parents and their left-behind children was often infrequent and lacked meaningful content. The low contact frequency between migrant parents and their children may be due to the migrant parents’ long working hours and intense work schedules (Duan et al., 2014 ; Fan & Wu, 2020 ). Left-behind children may have limited access to communication tools (Liu & Jin, 2021 ). Xiao’s study (2022) found that left-behind children reported poor parent-child communication, largely because most of their conversations (73%) predominantly focused on academic performance. In addition, poor parent-child relationship significantly affects the self-awareness, emotional and moral development of abandoned children (Chui, 2023 ; Jia, 2012 ). In the group of two-parent out-of-home children, father-child bonding predicts both negative and positive emotions. In contrast, mother-child bonding only significantly predicts their positive emotions (Fan, 2022 ; Liao et al., 2023 ). The reason provided in the study is that children tend to rely more on their mothers, showing a higher level of dependence, which leads to positive emotional predictions toward the mother. In contrast, fathers are often absent, and their emotional stability is less consistent, which results in different outcomes. This is closely related to cultural factors. The traditional division of labor in Chinese families is that "women handle household chores and care for children, while men earn the family income" (Tan et al., 2023 ). While Chinese culture traditionally regards maternal care as the optimal choice during a child's early years, fathers should equally take on caregiving responsibilities, as children need their fathers just as much. In addition, the negative impacts of being left behind on children's health, cognition, etc. are cross-culturally prevalent in low-and middle-income countries (Nguyen, 2016 ). While migration contributes to increasing household income, it also often has a negative impact on the well-being of children, especially in the context of long-term migration. These findings are consistent with the understanding that in low- and middle-income countries, where such migration is most common, left-behind children of migrant workers face significant challenges in terms of emotional support, education, and overall development (Nguyen, 2016 ). The study adopts Burns and Kaufman's Kinetic Family Drawings Theory (KFD) as a theoretical framework. Burns and Kaufman ( 1970 , 2013 ) conducted research at the Seattle Children's Correctional Treatment Centre in the United States of America on children with psychological or emotional disturbances. The guiding principle of the process was to have the children draw a picture of each family member engaged in an activity based on the concept of KFD. The KFD is a projective testing tool that uses psychological projection techniques to comprehend the family relationships of psychologically disturbed children by analyzing the order, position, size, distance, and absence of figures in the drawings (Malchiodi, 2012 ). The KFD allows children to express their inner psychological states and emotions through autonomous drawing with minimal intervention. Language is the most effective means of communicating thoughts, opinions, and ideas, while drawing (using colors and lines) is the most effective means of communicating emotions (Bajaj et al., 2020 ; Di Leo, 2013 ; McCoy et al., 2020 ). Currently, studies on preschool left-behind children are rare. Few have employed tests and work analysis to explore left-behind children's parent-child relationship from the child's perspective, which is the innovation of this study. The KFD theory offers the advantage of non-verbal expression: it guides children to express their emotions and perceptions through painting, which is especially suitable for rural children with limited language ability or who are not good at direct communication. In addition, KFD theory is culturally adaptable: drawing is an intuitive and direct activity that does not rely on complex tools, does not require a high cultural background, and is suitable for rural areas with limited resources. It effectively reveals family dynamics: by analyzing the arrangement, activities and spatial distribution of family members in children's drawings, it indirectly reflects intergenerational relationships (such as the role of grandparents) and emotional distance (such as the absence of parents). The KFD theory has a good applicability in the context of Chinese rural culture. For example, Zhang ( 2018 ) studied the different expressions of family dynamics in the paintings of rural preschool left-behind children in China and found that the research results have strong applicability. To more accurately capture and interpret the family relationships and emotional body of rural children, we have partially adjusted the theoretical tools, combined with interviews, stories and other methods, to more accurately capture and interpret the family relationships and emotional experience of rural children in China. This study focuses on rural preschool left-behind children aged 4–6 in China. Some scholars have defined the concept of parent-child relationship, which refers to the interpersonal relationships between parents and their biological, adopted, or step-children (Zeng et al., 2024 ; Zhu, 1989 ). In this study, the parent-child relationship is defined as the relationships between parents and children who are related by blood or living together (Li & Liu, 2020 ; Jeong et al., 2021 ). In summary, previous research on Chinese left-behind children has the following shortcomings: While there is a substantial body of research on Chinese left-behind children, most have focused on adolescents and rely heavily on questionnaires and interviews, with methodological triangulation frequently supplemented by parental surveys. Research on rural preschool left-behind children is scare and often lacks direct data from the children themselves, instead relying on reports from parents or guardians. Our study involved testing young children individually, with testers interpreting their responses, and using age-appropriate methods such as drawing and storytelling. Previous studies often use a single evaluation method, like a separate questionnaire survey from a guardian or a teacher, or the analysis of a single aspect of the content of family dynamic painting. This limits the explanatory power of the findings. Our study improves on this by using a more rigorous, dual evaluation approach. We evaluate and score the process of the drawing on the spot, and interpret the drawings using the theoretical framework of KFD. Our findings from the drawings are then confirmed through interviews. This approach provides a more comprehensive and reliable understanding of the parent-child relationship from the child’s perspective, especially for preschool-age left-behind children in China’s most impoverished regions. 2 Methods 2. 1 Participants Sample 1: We randomly selected 15 out of the 30 kindergartens provided by the Gansu Provincial Women's Federation, which are located in relatively remote and underprivileged areas, and included all children aged 4 to 6 from these selected kindergartens in the sample. Data included 436 children aged 4 to 6 years (51.1% boys, n = 223, and 48.9% girls, n = 213), Out of these children, 54.1% (n = 236) were identifies as left-behind children and 45.9% (n = 200) as non-left-behind children. In this study, left-behind children are defined as rural minors under the age of 16 who are being raised and cared for by a single parent, grandparents, or other relatives because one or both of their parents have migrated for work or business, and have been away for more than three months (Fan & Guo, 2015 ; Liang, 2019 ). Sample 2: A total of 30 drawings were randomly selected from the Kinetic Family Drawings (KFD) of 236 left-behind children for interpretation and analysis to derive general indicators of the KFD. 2. 2 Tools and Procedures (1) Parent-child relationship. Parent-child relationship was measured with the five-item Parent-child Relationship Assessment (PCRA; Gao, 2022), rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 = xxxx to 5 = xxxx. responses to 5 items concerning the children's Kinetic Family Drawings. The questionnaire items focus on children’s family drawings, covering aspects such as the affective and behavioral characteristics reflected in the drawings, the recall of parental figures, and the expression of emotions toward parents. For instance, the child’s emotional state during the drawing task is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with the following descriptors: very unhappy, unhappy, neutral, happy, and very happy. Higher scores indicate a more positive parent-child relationship. The Cronbach’s alpha of the parent-child relationship questionnaire in this study was 0.853. (2) Artwork Analysis. Children’s KFD artwork was analyzed based on general indicators for guiding and interpreting KFD (Prado et al., 2019 ; Zhao et al., 2022 ). These quantitative indicators included the characters' sequence, omission, size, location, reactions, and symbols (Table 1 ). Table 1 Quantitative indicator for the analysis of paintings Sequence The order in which each character is drawn Position Children draw themselves at the shortest distance in a straight line from a parent or sibling Omission The absence of oneself or certain family members in a painting implies dissatisfaction, anger or rejection Reactions Behavioral actions of the figures Size The most important people are often drawn the largest Symbols An image of a special object in the picture, such as the sun, a river, etc. The analysis of children's drawings primarily involves the systematic recording and quantitative examination of the frequency with which specific indicators appear, such as the frequency of the maternal figure's appearance in the drawings and the frequency with which it is depicted in the first ordinal position. It is important to mention that these interpretations are not absolute indicators but a possibility of interpretation of the picture. During the testing period, the tester asked the children about the specific contents of the pictures. Two examples of KFD were shown in Figs. 1 and 2 : 2. 3 Work assessment and collection session (1) Preparation of assessment materials: A4 white paper; 2B pencils; erasers. (2) Guideline: Please draw a picture of a family doing something together or an activity together, and when you have finished, please tell me who you drew. All right, let's start drawing! (If the child does not understand, the tester can repeat it again.) (3) Interview the children after the drawing: Ask each child who participated in the test about the relationships between the characters in the picture and the child himself/herself, the sequence in which they appeared, and their behaviors and manners. Who's in the painting? What are they doing? What is happening in the painting? Where did it happen? Ask the children how they feel about each person in the order in which they appear? Ask children who their favorite person is in the family now. Who is the least favorite person and why? The researcher observed and asked the toddlers if there were any family members they missed, and if so, who were they? Why didn't you draw them? Do you want to continue to live with your grandparents (or other guardians) if Mom and Dad are now back? The above-mentioned questions were recorded in writing by the testers promptly during the questioning period. 2.4 Statistics and Data collection procedures The data analysis for this study was conducted using statistical software SPSS 26. 0. This study examined the relationship between children and their parents from two primary perspectives. Firstly, parent-child relationships were assessed and statistically analyzed using the Parent-Child Relationship Scale. Comparative analysis was conducted on the parent-child relationship status of 436 children, followed by a statistical examination of the parent-child relationships among 236 left-behind children categorized by different types of parental migration (Father works out, Mother works out, Both work out). Secondly, a random sample of 30 left-behind children was selected from the total pool of 236, and their drawings were interpreted and analyzed to extract general indicators of the Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) technique. The coding for this study was done by two doctoral candidates and seven master's students. 3 Results 3.1 Parent-Child relationship Firstly, we conducted an independent sample T-test on the scores of parent-child relationship between left-behind children and non-left-behind children. The parent-child relationship scores were lower for left-behind children than for non-left-behind children ( t = -12.379, p < 0.001). Multiple comparisons of parent-child relationship of left-behind children in different situations is shown in Table 2 . Table 2 Analysis of variance in parent-child relationship levels by parental migration types Source of variation Situation of parents working out N M ± SD F Multiple comparisons (SLD) Parent-child relationship Father works out 105 2.133 ± 0.476 55.251 1 < 4*, 2 < 4*, 3 < 4* Mother works out 15 2.040 ± 0.624 Both work out 116 2.022 ± 0.413 Neither works out 200 2.788 ± 0.699 Note: ** p < 0. 01, * p < 0. 05; 1 = Father works out, 2 = Mother works out, 3 = Both work out, 4 = Neither works out. As shown in Table 2 , the ANOVA test results indicated that the parent-child relationship scores of families where neither parent has migrated for work were significantly higher than those where the father, the mother, or both parents have migrated for work. Specifically, the parent-child relationship mean score was the lowest when both parents were absent. In addition, the Pearson correlation coefficient between parent-child relationship and left-behind children or not is significant ( r = 0.158, p < 0.01). 3. 2 Children's drawing tests on family dynamics 3. 2. 1 Sequential analysis of figure drawing The sample drawings of left-behind children in different situations are shown in Table 3 . Table 3 Sample drawings of left-behind children in different situations Parents working part-time number main caregivers Father migrants for work 13 mother Mother migrants for work 3 father, grandparents Both parents migrant for work 14 grandparents, relatives As can be seen from Table 3 a total of 30 out of 200 paintings were randomly chosen and interpreted. The status of common indicators of KFD was analyzed. The initial stage of drawing analysis included a quantitative statistical assessment of the order, omissions, size, placement, motion, and symbolic representation of the figures depicted in the family dynamics illustrations. The order in which figures appear in a painting is a very important indicator. Reynolds ( 2004 ) observed that the order in which figures are shown in a drawing often indicates their self-concept and relative position within the family structure. Ji ( 2010 ) believes that the figures in children's drawings follow the daily order within their family. The sequential analysis of the figure is shown in Table 4 . Table 4 The first figures depicted in paintings Situation of Parents working out Father Mother Self grandfathers grandmothers siblings Father works out (13 persons) frequency 1 6 5 / / 1 Mother works out (3 persons) frequency 1 / 1 / / 1 Both parents work out(14 persons) frequency 1 5 4 / 1 3 Grand total frequency 3 11 10 / 1 5 Grand total per cent 10% 36.7% 33.3% / 3.3% 16.7% As shown in Table 4 , when asked to "draw a picture of the whole family together," 22 out of the 30 children (73.3%) drew their mothers first. In addition, most children included their fathers (53.3%), grandparents (6.7%), and siblings (90%) in their drawings. 3. 2. 2 The omission of core family characters The father is most often 'absent' from the children's paintings (46.7%), the mother is rarely 'absent' (26.7%), and the children themselves (10%) are rarely absent from the drawings (Table 5 ). Table 5 Omission of core family characters Characters omitted Father Mother Self Frequency 14 8 3 Percentage of all omission cases (%) 56 32 12 3. 2. 3 Comparison of location and size of children and family members The comparison of characters at closest distance and character size to young children is shown in Table 6 . Table 6 Comparison of characters at closest distance and character size Character father mother grandfather grandmother sibling / distance Frequency 6 14 1 1 8 / Ratio (%) 20 46.7 3.3 3.3 26.7 / Character father mother grandfather grandmother sibling self size Frequency 6 14 1 1 8 8 Ratio (%) 16.7 43.3 3.3 0 10 26.7 In the paintings drawn by children, the mother’s image appears most frequently and is also the largest, which indicates that mother is the child's favorite and most intimate family member. In addition, the frequency of siblings is the closest and largest image after the mother, which indicates that they play a vital role in the development of young children. 3. 2. 4 Characters' behavioral actions Family dynamics drawings require children to draw any action of their family members, which is conducive to understanding of the meaning of character activity content from the perspective of behavior and action, and exploring children's cognitive expression of family interaction content in drawing activities, so as to further understand the state of parent-child relationship. Malchiodi ( 2012 ) pointed out that children sometimes draw family interacting together or doing things individually, but they more commonly draw all the characters in a row. In this study, many of the children also drew family members in a row. In talking to the children, we found that while most saw the picture as a representation of "family playing together," a few children depicted more specific actions such as cooking, watering flowers, flying kites, dancing, etc. These are beautiful and often everyday scenes in children's lives, and perhaps they are based on their desires. 3. 2. 5 Symbols Many of the children's drawings contain common symbols such as houses, the sun, flowers, trees, clouds, and flying objects. Table 7 shows the token frequency of symbols in the picture. The building is the most frequent symbol, followed by the cloud. The apple tree is the least frequent. Table 7 Symbols in the picture Serial number Token frequency 1 Flower 15 2 Solar 16 3 Building (single- or two-stories) 28 4 Apple trees, trees 11 5 A cloud 19 6 Flying objects (birds, butterflies, kites, etc. ) 15 4 Discussions 4. 1 The role of mother Mothers are the most significant figures in the psychological development of preschool left-behind children. First, in analyses of figure-drawing sequences, mothers are portrayed earliest, most frequently, and in the greatest number of depictions—whether as individual subjects or within nuclear family compositions. Reynolds ( 2004 ) has pointed out that the sequence of figures depicted in paintings typically represents self-concept and their hierarchical position within familial structures. Ji ( 2010 ) proposes that the order in which figures are drawn first or last—based on specific instructions—constitutes a cognitive preparatory process operating consciously. Furthermore, in most cases, the sequence of figures depicted in children's drawings corresponds to their actual hierarchical positions within the family structure. Secondly, in analyses of omitted core family members, mothers were the least frequently excluded, appearing in 73.3% of the drawings. According to the possible explanation of family dynamics in drawings proposed by Zeng ( 2009 ), the omission of a family member in a child's drawing may represent rejection or disregard for that person, while the omission of oneself may represent a negative self-concept. In addition, Knoff and Prout ( 1985 ) also argued that in family painting, children's omission of themselves from their drawings may be a sign of the child's lack of self-concept and feelings of abandonment and neglect (See Table 5 ). Finally, regarding spatial proximity and figure size, mothers were most prominently depicted, suggesting that they are the toddlers' favorite family members and that the closest emotional bonds exist between toddlers and their mothers. In this study, the position between the toddler and the family members refers to the shortest distance in a straight line between the children's self-portrait and the portraits of the other family members. Burns and Kaufman ( 1970 ) argue that the distance between the figures in family drawings represents the closeness of the relationships. The KFD theory states that young children often draw their favorite people closest to them. For the size of the figures in family drawing, children draw themselves smaller, which indicates a poor self-concept and a feeling of irrelevance. Drawing themselves larger, on the other hand, indicates that they are more dominant and have more power and needs. In KFD, there is a high degree of confidence in the size of the characters, the direction of the interaction between the characters, the distance between the actions, and the proximity of the distances (Zeng, 2009 ). Mothers are most frequently depicted as the largest figures, further suggesting that they hold the most significant emotional significance for the children. Mothers play the most crucial role in children's development, and scientific parenting approaches are fundamental to fostering healthy parent-child relationship. However, in reality, many rural left-behind children's parents in China today have low educational attainment and severely lack knowledge about proper parenting methods. When researchers inquired about their parenting practices, most mothers responded with statements like: "I don't know," "I just follow the teacher's instructions," and "We scold them when they disobey—this is how we were raised too”. In practice, two main issues persist in child-rearing: On the one hand, mothers are often overwhelmed by household chores or migrant work, leaving minimal time for educational engagement with their children. On the other hand, even when present at home, many employ inappropriate disciplinary methods such as assigning academic tasks to preschoolers. While physical punishment has become less common, verbal reprimands and scolding remain prevalent. Many mothers demonstrate limited understanding of children's physical and psychological developmental needs, relying instead on their own upbringing experiences. More alarmingly, some mothers actively shirk their caregiving responsibilities, neglecting both guidance and emotional nurturing. 4. 2 The role of father and sibling The drawings by these left-behind children reveal patterns of neglect and rejection towards their fathers. Statistical analysis of figure omissions shows paternal absence emerges as the most prominent feature. According to the interpretation framework of (KFD) proposed by Taiwanese scholar Zeng ( 2009 ), the omission of others may signify rejection or disregard for that individual, while self-omission potentially indicates negative self-perception. Interview findings demonstrate that the manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory. Among the 30 preschool left-behind children surveyed, only 2 explicitly identified their father as their favorite family member, with 4 additional children expressing general affection. The remaining 24 children either stated "dislike," responded "don't know," or remained silent. This empirical evidence suggests paternal absence has become a psychological reality for most left-behind children. But in Table 4 , 10% drew fathers first (higher than grandparents), and in Table 6 , 20% positioned fathers closest to themselves, which reveal the manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory. In addition, the study found that the siblings have become crucial sources of emotional support for left-behind children. When parents fail to provide sufficient warmth or a safe harbor, children turn to their siblings to build strong attachments. Sibling support can mitigate negative developmental challenges stemming from insufficient parental support (Cai, 2009 ; Su et al., 2024 ). However, akin to parent-child attachment, fostering secure sibling bonds is critical; otherwise, negative sibling attachment patterns may adversely affect children's psychological development. This significance of siblings is evident in kinetic family drawings (KFD), where they emerge as primary emotional anchors, consistent play companions, and informal caregivers in the daily lives of left-behind children. 4. 3 The situation of the children's mental health The most critical issue facing left-behind children is the absence of nurturing care and emotional engagement they require. This stems primarily from prolonged parental migration for work. Although most left-behind children receive sufficient material provisions (e.g., food, clothing, and financial support), they experience significant deficits in parental affection and psychological attunement. Mental health deterioration has emerged as the paramount concern for this population. Analysis of their artwork and interview responses reveals pervasive emotional deprivation and intense longing for parental warmth. A majority demonstrate negative psychological states, including symptoms of depression, social rejection, and perceived neglect. Concurrently, rural left-behind children face systemic barriers to quality familial education. First, households typically operate under constrained socioeconomic conditions, with parents exhibiting low educational attainment. Furthermore, chronic parental absence fundamentally undermines early childhood developmental scaffolding within the home environment. Frome Table 7 , many left-behind children who drew apple trees, which is common in children's drawings. Li and Wu ( 2016 ), in their book 'Drawing from the Heart: An Atlas of the Psychoanalysis of Drawing', explained that the fruit represents different things, such as hope, desire, reward, goal, achievement, etc. The ripening state of the fruit symbolizes the outcome of things. Additionally, according to Burns and Kaufman ( 1970 ), the sun, another common symbol in children's drawings, represents the need for warmth and acceptance. A child's different representations of the sun also reflect different meanings. For example, the dark sun is associated with frustration and depression. At KFD, flowers represent a beautiful love and growth process. Children draw flowers to symbolize their desire to be loved. Butterflies and bees symbolize the individual's pursuit of imaginary love and beauty. Kites symbolize the desire to break free and be free, and birds flying in the air also associate with the desire to be free and to break free from existing constraints. Family education operates as an affectively grounded, implicit pedagogical system, where efficacy hinges on sustained, attuned parent-child communication. Such reciprocal interactions foster secure attachment bonds, meeting children's needs for emotional safety and relational stability. However, chronic parental behaviors that induce persistent insecurity may trigger filial hostility—a phenomenon Horney termed basic hostility. This psychological ambivalence manifests as coexisting dependency and resentment, ultimately disrupting normative child development. Within rural Chinese contexts, intergenerational caregiving by grandparents has become prevalent. The majorities of these elderly caregivers possess limited literacy and lack formal pedagogical training, compounded by diminished physical capacity and competing demands from agricultural labor and domestic duties. Consequently, they frequently resort to over-restrictive containment of grandchildren (e.g., prolonged home confinement and activity limitation), engendering chronic insecurity and social withdrawal tendencies in early childhood. Therefore, if possible, parents should try to avoid long-term go out for work. If working away from home is unavoidable, they must keep in touch with child and persistently provide care and emotional support. Parents should understand that companionship is crucial to their children's development. A good parent-child relationship is a necessary prerequisite for the healthy development of children. Parents must take responsibility for raising their children and do their best to spend time with them and communicate effectively (Fan, 2022 ; Liao et al., 2023 ; Zhao et al., 2022 ). Left-behind children are a social phenomenon arising from China's socio-economic transition, where a large-scale migration of rural labor to urban areas occurs within the framework of the urban-rural dual structure. This has led to the emergence of left-behind families and intergenerational caregiving in rural areas. Similar situations have occurred in many countries transitioning from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, resulting in varying degrees of family structure reorganization (Wu & Qi, 2020 ). The problem of left-behind children is a social problem that needs the support of the government and society. Relevant studies have shown that current national rural revitalization policies, including the development of tourism economies and cultural industries, can provide the necessary impetus and financial support for rural governance. These efforts help enhance the level of village autonomy, improve the legal framework of grassroots communities, and drive the return of rural talent to strengthen governance capacity. Such measures are crucial for addressing issues like rural hollowing and improving rural governance (Huang et al., 2020 ; Liu et al., 2021, 2023 ; Wang & Su., 2021; Zhang & Ji., 2022). 4. 4 Limitations This study has three primary limitations. First, the restricted sample size-drawn exclusively from one of China children's most socioeconomically disadvantaged provinces—compromises generalizability. Regarding the issue of the small sample size of the "Mothers' Work Group", we have repeatedly confirmed and verified it. However, it is true that only 15 children are in this situation. During the investigation, we learned that the occurrence of this situation mainly has the following reasons: 1. The father has a serious physical or physiological illness. 2. The father has passed away. 3. The parents are divorced and the mother is raising the child alone. In rural areas of China, when children are in the early stages of their childhood, the situation where the mother goes out to work to support the family is extremely rare. Either the father goes out or they go out together, and the child is taken care of by the grandparents. The situation where the mother goes out to work to support the family is a relatively special and rare "unavoidable situation" in the family. Therefore, after careful discussion, we believe that we should respect the facts and focus on conducting statistics based on the overall situation of the left-behind children. We will make a statistically significant analysis of the overall situation of the parent-child relationship of the left-behind children. Therefore, future investigations will incorporate stratified sampling to circumvent analogous cohort representation limitations. At the same time, future investigations should expand sampling to include left-behind children in affluent and industrialized regions to enhance ecological validity. Second, methodological constraints arise from the inherent tension between generalizability and specificity in research design. To mitigate interpretive overreach, mental health assessments require triangulation through mixed-method approaches (e.g., integrating psychometric scales with observational data). For instance, symbolic interpretations in KFD (e.g., a sun representing a "need for warmth") may not universally apply beyond rural Chinese contexts. Third, while standardized tools provide population-level insights, they risk oversimplifying individual psychopathology. Incorporating longitudinal case studies could yield more nuanced representations of children's mental health trajectories, particularly regarding attachment disruptions and coping mechanisms. 5 Conclusions (1) Parents working outside for a long time can seriously affect their parent-child relationship. Left-behind children scored significantly lower than non-left-behind children in terms of parent-child relationship. (2) Mothers are the most important family members in children's lives. Firstly, in terms of the order of figure drawings, mothers are depicted first, most frequently, and with the largest number of portraits, both individual figures and within the nuclear family structure. (3) The manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory. Among the 30 preschool left-behind children, only 2 children explicitly stated that their favorite family members were their fathers and only 4 children said that they liked their fathers. Of the remaining 24 children, they either expressed that they "didn't like him," "didn't know," or remained silent. This suggests that the father's "absence" has become the psychological reality of most left-behind children. But 10% drew fathers first (higher than grandparents), and 20% positioned fathers closest to themselves, which reveal the manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory. (4) Left-behind children often lack the care and attention they deserve. This is mainly because their parents work outside the home for long periods of time. Surveys indicate that while most of the left-behind children have adequate food, clothing and financial support, they lack parental love and care. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate: All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. All experimental protocols were approved by South China Normal University (SCNU) research ethics board. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Funding: This research was funded by the Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project of Guangdong Province in China (GD24XXL03) and the Striving for the First-Class, Improving Weak Links and Highlighting Features (SIH) Key Discipline for Psychology in South China Normal University. Author Contribution Yao Wang completed conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing original draft, and writing-review and editing. Xuelan Liu completed conceptualization, methodology, project administration, and writing-review and editing. Weijun Wang completed writing-review and editing. Guangming Li completed software, supervision, validation, and writing-review and editing. Data Availability The data are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions. References Bajaj A, Patel JA, Kabra A. The Kinetic Family Drawing Test for Evaluating Interpersonal Dynamics in Families: A Case Study. Medico-legal Update. 2020;20(4):81–5. Bao L. (2016). Family relationships in the Minds of Left-behind Children (Master's thesis, Nanjing Normal University). Berger KS. (2016). Psychology of Children Aged 0–12 [Translated by Chen H. C.]. China Light Industry Press. Burns RC, Kaufman SH. (1970). 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Fan CY, Wu Y. Parent-child relationships and loneliness, depression: the mediating and moderating role of gratitude in rural left-behind children. Psychol Dev Educ. 2020;36(6):734–42. Fan HL. (2022). Research on Psychological and Behavioural Problems and Countermeasures of Rural Left-behind Children (Doctoral thesis, Wuhan University of Technology). Fu QJ. (2015). Research on the correlation between children's problematic behaviors and parent-child relationships and pro-social behaviors (Master's thesis, Yunnan Normal University). Fan X, Guo Q. Review and reflection on the education of rural left-behind children. J Agricultural Univ (Social Sci Edition). 2015;32(1):55–64. Gao,b. Reseach on the current mental health status of left-behind children in rural areas and its promotion. J Jiangsu Second Normal Univ. 2022;39(1):11–9. Huang R. The Potential Crisis of Early Childhood Left-behind Life. Beijing Normal University; 2019. Huang X, Zou T, Chu D. Evolution mechanisms and models of rural tourism governance: A longitudinal case study of Yuanjia Village, Shaanxi, 1949–2019. Hum Geogr. 2020;35(3):93–103. Ji T. Practical Pictorial Psychology: Painting Psychoanalysis and Therapy. Hebei People's Publishing House; 2012. Ji Y. Picture Story: The World of Psychoanalysi s. East China Normal University; 2010. Jia W. relationships between personality characteristics, coping styles and psychological adaptability of rural left-behind children. Psychol Sci. 2012;35(01):142–7147. Jeong J, Pitchik HO, Fink G. Short-term, medium-term and long-term effects of early parenting interventions in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. BMJ Global Health. 2021;6(3):1–18. Knoff HM, prout HT. The Kinetic Drawing System:A review and integration of the kinetic family and school drawing techniques. Psychol Sch. 1985;22(1):50–9. Lan X, Wang W, Radin R. Depressive symptoms in emerging adults with early left-behind experiences in rural China. J Loss Trauma. 2019;24(4):339–55. Li HW, Wu D. Mental drawing:An atlas of psychological analysis of drawing. People's Posts and Telecommunications Publishing House; 2016. Li HY, Liu L. Progress of research on parent-child relationships in Chinese families. Educational Theory Pract. 2020;40(17):19–22. Liang FQ. Left-behind children needs to be precisely defined. Teach Manage. 2019;19:80–1. Liao J, Liu Y, Chen S, Li J, Wang X, Yu B. The effects of family and school interpersonal relationships on left-behind children's social adjustment: The chain mediation of self-esteem and life satisfaction. J Southwest Univ (Natural Sci Edition). 2023;45(12):22–11. Liu HS, Jin XY. Parent-child relationships of rural left-behind children in the context of population mobility: Findings from a survey of middle school students in three counties of two provinces in central and western China. J East China Univ Sci Technol (Social Sci Edition). 2021;2:52–68. Liu H, Zhou TM, Zhang CL, Wang HT. Research progress on the effect of parent-child separation on left-behind children's depression. Chin School Health. 2023;44(10):1592–5. Liu M, Ren L, Zhou B. How tourism development drives effective governance in rural revitalization. Tourism Sci. 2020;36(11):1–23. Malchiodi CA, editor. Art therapy and health care. Guilford Press; 2012. McCoy A, Melendez-Torres GJ, Gardner F. Parenting interventions to prevent violence against children in low-and middle-income countries in East and Southeast Asia: A systematic review and multi-level meta-analysis. Child Abuse Negl. 2020;103:1–12. Nguyen CV. Does parental migration really benefit left-behind children? Comparative evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. Soc Sci Med. 2016;153:230–9. Prado EL, Larson LM, Cox K, Bettencourt K, Kubes JN, Shankar AH. Do effects of early life interventions on linear growth correspond to effects on neurobehavioural development? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Global Health. 2019;7(10):13982–1413. Ren YC. Research on the policy of rural left-behind childre n. China Society; 2013. Reynolds. Seven Talks in Art History. Renmin University of China; 2004. Shaffer DR. (2009). Developmental psychology:childhood and adolescence [Translated by Zou H. China Light Industry Press. Song J, Ma C, Ruan Y. Left-behind children's grandparent–child and parent–child relationships and loneliness: A multivariable mediation model. Fam Relat. 2021;70(1):195–206. State Council. (2016). Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening the Care and Protection of Rural Left-behind Children. Su X, Su J, Liu J. The influence of family environment and education methods on the mental health and behavior habits of left-behind children. Med Theory Pract. 2024;37(06):1501–3. Tan D, Xie R, Song S, Ding W, Wu W, Li W. How does parent–child attachment influence left-behind children's loneliness and depression: The mediating roles of peer attachment and teacher–student relationships. Child Care Health Dev. 2023;49(6):1076–86. Tao L. Children's Art Therapy. Jiangsu Education; 2010. Wang D, Choi JK, Shin J. Long-term neighborhood effects on adolescent outcomes: mediated through adverse childhood experiences and parenting stress. J Youth Adolesc. 2022;49(10):21602–2173. Wang H, Su W. The process and mechanism of rural gentrification driven by tourism: A case study of two villages in Danxia Mountain. Tourism Tribune. 2021;36(5):69–80. Wu C, Qi W. The parent generation's presence in left-behind children's family structure. J East China Normal Univ (Educational Sciences). 2020;38(6):86–98. Wu HM. (2011). Research on parent-child relationships problems of rural left-behind children (Master's thesis, Ji lin University). Xiao LN. Love without closeness: The experience and construction of parent-child relationships of left-behind children. J East China Normal Univ (Philosophy Social Sci Edition). 2022;54(1):108–16. Xu Z, Bao S, Zheng W. A study on the correlation between behavioral problems and parent-child relationships among school-age children in Shanghai. Psychol Sci. 2004;27(02):404–6. Yu G, Jin D. Effects of marital and parent-child relationships on psychological and behavioral problems in 3-to 6-year-old children. Psychol Sci. 2003;26(04):608–11. Zeng Z, Lin S, Yang Q, Wang H, Lin C. Impact of post-traumatic parent-child relationships on adolescents' social adjustment: Multigene regulation of the HPA axis system. Psychol J. 2024;56(8):1–28. Zhao, Q., Meng, L., He, Z., liu, X., Huang, N., & Hu, Y. Zeng Y. (2009). A study of family dynamics drawing and family interaction in intergenerational parenting children (Master's thesis, National Taipei University of Education). Zhao J, Ge J, Li Q. Grandparent-child cohesion, friendship quality, and left-behind children's positive/negative affect in rural China. J Health Psychol. 2022;27(11):2489–504. Zhang M. (2018). A study on the family dynamic drawing expressions of rural left-behind and non-left-behind preschool children (Doctoral dissertation, Shanghai Normal University). Zhang R, Ji C. The process of knowledge transfer among professional farmers in ethnic tourism areas: A longitudinal case study of Longji Terrace, Guangxi. Tourism Sci. 2022;36(1):50–72. Zhang W. Children's social development. Beijing Normal University; 1999. Zhu ZX. Dictionary of psychology. Beijing Normal University; 1989. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":451000,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFamily painting of left-behind children (TS-033)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7983726/v1/ba106b73b63f94d102b85a8d.png"},{"id":96652755,"identity":"b13a0844-e064-4ea6-a3dd-be2094ae813b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-24 16:35:48","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":657506,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFamily painting of left-behind children (TS-109)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7983726/v1/71bd948238b5b3f5dae49d44.png"},{"id":100787654,"identity":"e65c14dd-2cc3-4746-b625-7b7b0f18d179","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-21 12:02:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2333053,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7983726/v1/555d9a21-d2ca-45cc-9f89-e8c55cb37461.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Exploring the Impact of Parental Absence on Parent-Child Relationships of Left-Behind Preschool Children in Rural China Through Family Dynamics Drawing Test","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eLeft-behind children are a social phenomenon arising from China's socio-economic transition, characterized by large-scale migration of rural labor to urban areas within the framework of the urban-rural dual structure. This migration has led to the emergence of left-behind families and intergenerational caregiving in rural areas. In 2016, there were 9.02\u0026nbsp;million left-behind children under the age of 16 in China (Wang et al., 2020). Being left behind by a parent is a major, life-transforming event, often overwhelming a young child\u0026rsquo;s ability to cope, and one of the most critical and urgent issues that arises is the breakdown of the poor parent-child relationship (State Council, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Poor parent-child relationships negatively impact children's mental health and can trigger behavioral problems. Such relational deficits may be associated with conduct disorders, psychosis, suicidality, and delinquency in children. For example, Wu (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) found that left-behind children lacked emotional satisfaction and protection from their families, which led to a decrease in their sense of family identification; communication between parents and their left-behind children was often infrequent and lacked meaningful content. The low contact frequency between migrant parents and their children may be due to the migrant parents\u0026rsquo; long working hours and intense work schedules (Duan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Fan \u0026amp; Wu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Left-behind children may have limited access to communication tools (Liu \u0026amp; Jin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Xiao\u0026rsquo;s study (2022) found that left-behind children reported poor parent-child communication, largely because most of their conversations (73%) predominantly focused on academic performance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition, poor parent-child relationship significantly affects the self-awareness, emotional and moral development of abandoned children (Chui, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Jia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). In the group of two-parent out-of-home children, father-child bonding predicts both negative and positive emotions. In contrast, mother-child bonding only significantly predicts their positive emotions (Fan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Liao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). The reason provided in the study is that children tend to rely more on their mothers, showing a higher level of dependence, which leads to positive emotional predictions toward the mother. In contrast, fathers are often absent, and their emotional stability is less consistent, which results in different outcomes. This is closely related to cultural factors. The traditional division of labor in Chinese families is that \"women handle household chores and care for children, while men earn the family income\" (Tan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). While Chinese culture traditionally regards maternal care as the optimal choice during a child's early years, fathers should equally take on caregiving responsibilities, as children need their fathers just as much. In addition, the negative impacts of being left behind on children's health, cognition, etc. are cross-culturally prevalent in low-and middle-income countries (Nguyen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). While migration contributes to increasing household income, it also often has a negative impact on the well-being of children, especially in the context of long-term migration. These findings are consistent with the understanding that in low- and middle-income countries, where such migration is most common, left-behind children of migrant workers face significant challenges in terms of emotional support, education, and overall development (Nguyen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe study adopts Burns and Kaufman's Kinetic Family Drawings Theory (KFD) as a theoretical framework. Burns and Kaufman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1970\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) conducted research at the Seattle Children's Correctional Treatment Centre in the United States of America on children with psychological or emotional disturbances. The guiding principle of the process was to have the children draw a picture of each family member engaged in an activity based on the concept of KFD. The KFD is a projective testing tool that uses psychological projection techniques to comprehend the family relationships of psychologically disturbed children by analyzing the order, position, size, distance, and absence of figures in the drawings (Malchiodi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). The KFD allows children to express their inner psychological states and emotions through autonomous drawing with minimal intervention. Language is the most effective means of communicating thoughts, opinions, and ideas, while drawing (using colors and lines) is the most effective means of communicating emotions (Bajaj et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Di Leo, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; McCoy et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Currently, studies on preschool left-behind children are rare. Few have employed tests and work analysis to explore left-behind children's parent-child relationship from the child's perspective, which is the innovation of this study.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe KFD theory offers the advantage of non-verbal expression: it guides children to express their emotions and perceptions through painting, which is especially suitable for rural children with limited language ability or who are not good at direct communication. In addition, KFD theory is culturally adaptable: drawing is an intuitive and direct activity that does not rely on complex tools, does not require a high cultural background, and is suitable for rural areas with limited resources. It effectively reveals family dynamics: by analyzing the arrangement, activities and spatial distribution of family members in children's drawings, it indirectly reflects intergenerational relationships (such as the role of grandparents) and emotional distance (such as the absence of parents).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe KFD theory has a good applicability in the context of Chinese rural culture. For example, Zhang (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) studied the different expressions of family dynamics in the paintings of rural preschool left-behind children in China and found that the research results have strong applicability. To more accurately capture and interpret the family relationships and emotional body of rural children, we have partially adjusted the theoretical tools, combined with interviews, stories and other methods, to more accurately capture and interpret the family relationships and emotional experience of rural children in China.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study focuses on rural preschool left-behind children aged 4\u0026ndash;6 in China. Some scholars have defined the concept of parent-child relationship, which refers to the interpersonal relationships between parents and their biological, adopted, or step-children (Zeng et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Zhu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e). In this study, the parent-child relationship is defined as the relationships between parents and children who are related by blood or living together (Li \u0026amp; Liu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Jeong et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). In summary, previous research on Chinese left-behind children has the following shortcomings:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003col\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile there is a substantial body of research on Chinese left-behind children, most have focused on adolescents and rely heavily on questionnaires and interviews, with methodological triangulation frequently supplemented by parental surveys. Research on rural preschool left-behind children is scare and often lacks direct data from the children themselves, instead relying on reports from parents or guardians. Our study involved testing young children individually, with testers interpreting their responses, and using age-appropriate methods such as drawing and storytelling.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrevious studies often use a single evaluation method, like a separate questionnaire survey from a guardian or a teacher, or the analysis of a single aspect of the content of family dynamic painting. This limits the explanatory power of the findings. Our study improves on this by using a more rigorous, dual evaluation approach. We evaluate and score the process of the drawing on the spot, and interpret the drawings using the theoretical framework of KFD. Our findings from the drawings are then confirmed through interviews. This approach provides a more comprehensive and reliable understanding of the parent-child relationship from the child\u0026rsquo;s perspective, especially for preschool-age left-behind children in China\u0026rsquo;s most impoverished regions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2 Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2. 1 Participants\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSample 1: We randomly selected 15 out of the 30 kindergartens provided by the Gansu Provincial Women's Federation, which are located in relatively remote and underprivileged areas, and included all children aged 4 to 6 from these selected kindergartens in the sample. Data included 436 children aged 4 to 6 years (51.1% boys, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;223, and 48.9% girls, n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;213), Out of these children, 54.1% (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;236) were identifies as left-behind children and 45.9% (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;200) as non-left-behind children. In this study, left-behind children are defined as rural minors under the age of 16 who are being raised and cared for by a single parent, grandparents, or other relatives because one or both of their parents have migrated for work or business, and have been away for more than three months (Fan \u0026amp; Guo, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Liang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSample 2: A total of 30 drawings were randomly selected from the Kinetic Family Drawings (KFD) of 236 left-behind children for interpretation and analysis to derive general indicators of the KFD.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e2. 2 Tools and Procedures\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(1) Parent-child relationship. Parent-child relationship was measured with the five-item Parent-child Relationship Assessment (PCRA; Gao, 2022), rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;xxxx to 5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;xxxx. responses to 5 items concerning the children's Kinetic Family Drawings. The questionnaire items focus on children\u0026rsquo;s family drawings, covering aspects such as the affective and behavioral characteristics reflected in the drawings, the recall of parental figures, and the expression of emotions toward parents. For instance, the child\u0026rsquo;s emotional state during the drawing task is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with the following descriptors: very unhappy, unhappy, neutral, happy, and very happy. Higher scores indicate a more positive parent-child relationship. The Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s alpha of the parent-child relationship questionnaire in this study was 0.853.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) Artwork Analysis. Children\u0026rsquo;s KFD artwork was analyzed based on general indicators for guiding and interpreting KFD (Prado et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Zhao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). These quantitative indicators included the characters' sequence, omission, size, location, reactions, and symbols (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eQuantitative indicator for the analysis of paintings\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSequence\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe order in which each character is drawn\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePosition\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eChildren draw themselves at the shortest distance in a straight line from a parent or sibling\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOmission\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe absence of oneself or certain family members in a painting implies dissatisfaction, anger or rejection\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eReactions\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehavioral actions of the figures\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSize\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe most important people are often drawn the largest\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSymbols\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn image of a special object in the picture, such as the sun, a river, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"2\"\u003eThe analysis of children's drawings primarily involves the systematic recording and quantitative examination of the frequency with which specific indicators appear, such as the frequency of the maternal figure's appearance in the drawings and the frequency with which it is depicted in the first ordinal position. It is important to mention that these interpretations are not absolute indicators but a possibility of interpretation of the picture. During the testing period, the tester asked the children about the specific contents of the pictures. Two examples of KFD were shown in Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e:\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e2. 3 Work assessment and collection session\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(1) Preparation of assessment materials: A4 white paper; 2B pencils; erasers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e (2) Guideline: Please draw a picture of a family doing something together or an activity together, and when you have finished, please tell me who you drew. All right, let's start drawing! (If the child does not understand, the tester can repeat it again.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(3) Interview the children after the drawing: Ask each child who participated in the test about the relationships between the characters in the picture and the child himself/herself, the sequence in which they appeared, and their behaviors and manners.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWho's in the painting? What are they doing?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat is happening in the painting? Where did it happen?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsk the children how they feel about each person in the order in which they appear?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAsk children who their favorite person is in the family now. Who is the least favorite person and why?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe researcher observed and asked the toddlers if there were any family members they missed, and if so, who were they? Why didn't you draw them?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDo you want to continue to live with your grandparents (or other guardians) if Mom and Dad are now back?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe above-mentioned questions were recorded in writing by the testers promptly during the questioning period.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.4 Statistics and Data collection procedures\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe data analysis for this study was conducted using statistical software SPSS 26. 0. This study examined the relationship between children and their parents from two primary perspectives. Firstly, parent-child relationships were assessed and statistically analyzed using the Parent-Child Relationship Scale. Comparative analysis was conducted on the parent-child relationship status of 436 children, followed by a statistical examination of the parent-child relationships among 236 left-behind children categorized by different types of parental migration (Father works out, Mother works out, Both work out). Secondly, a random sample of 30 left-behind children was selected from the total pool of 236, and their drawings were interpreted and analyzed to extract general indicators of the Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) technique. The coding for this study was done by two doctoral candidates and seven master's students.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3 Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.1 Parent-Child relationship\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirstly, we conducted an independent sample T-test on the scores of parent-child relationship between left-behind children and non-left-behind children. The parent-child relationship scores were lower for left-behind children than for non-left-behind children (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -12.379, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMultiple comparisons of parent-child relationship of left-behind children in different situations is shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnalysis of variance in parent-child relationship levels by parental migration types\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSource of variation\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSituation of\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eparents working out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eN\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eM\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;SD\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMultiple comparisons (SLD)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eParent-child relationship\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather works out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e105\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.133\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.476\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e55.251\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;4*, 2\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;4*,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;4*\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMother works out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.040\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.624\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth work out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e116\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.022\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.413\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeither works out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e200\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026plusmn;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.788\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.699\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"6\"\u003eNote: **\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0. 01, *\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0. 05; 1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Father works out, 2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Mother works out, 3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Both work out, 4\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Neither works out.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, the ANOVA test results indicated that the parent-child relationship scores of families where neither parent has migrated for work were significantly higher than those where the father, the mother, or both parents have migrated for work. Specifically, the parent-child relationship mean score was the lowest when both parents were absent. In addition, the Pearson correlation coefficient between parent-child relationship and left-behind children or not is significant (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.158, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003col\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. 2 Children's drawing tests on family dynamics\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. 2. 1 Sequential analysis of figure drawing\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe sample drawings of left-behind children in different situations are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSample drawings of left-behind children in different situations\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eParents working part-time\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003enumber\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003emain caregivers\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather migrants for work\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003emother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMother migrants for work\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efather, grandparents\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth parents migrant for work\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandparents, relatives\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs can be seen from Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003ea total of 30 out of 200 paintings were randomly chosen and interpreted. The status of common indicators of KFD was analyzed. The initial stage of drawing analysis included a quantitative statistical assessment of the order, omissions, size, placement, motion, and symbolic representation of the figures depicted in the family dynamics illustrations.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe order in which figures appear in a painting is a very important indicator. Reynolds (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) observed that the order in which figures are shown in a drawing often indicates their self-concept and relative position within the family structure. Ji (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) believes that the figures in children's drawings follow the daily order within their family. The sequential analysis of the figure is shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first figures depicted in paintings\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSituation of Parents working out\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandfathers\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandmothers\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003esiblings\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather works out\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(13 persons)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMother works out\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(3 persons)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth parents work out(14 persons)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrand total\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrand total\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eper cent\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36.7%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33.3%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.3%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.7%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, when asked to \"draw a picture of the whole family together,\" 22 out of the 30 children (73.3%) drew their mothers first. In addition, most children included their fathers (53.3%), grandparents (6.7%), and siblings (90%) in their drawings.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e3. 2. 2 The omission of core family characters\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe father is most often 'absent' from the children's paintings (46.7%), the mother is rarely 'absent' (26.7%), and the children themselves (10%) are rarely absent from the drawings (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOmission of core family characters\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharacters omitted\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelf\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePercentage of all omission cases (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e3. 2. 3 Comparison of location and size of children and family members\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe comparison of characters at closest distance and character size to young children is shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eComparison of characters at closest distance and character size\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharacter\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efather\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003emother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandfather\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandmother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003esibling\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003edistance\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRatio (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e/\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharacter\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efather\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003emother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandfather\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003egrandmother\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003esibling\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eself\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003esize\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRatio (%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e43.3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the paintings drawn by children, the mother\u0026rsquo;s image appears most frequently and is also the largest, which indicates that mother is the child's favorite and most intimate family member. In addition, the frequency of siblings is the closest and largest image after the mother, which indicates that they play a vital role in the development of young children.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e3. 2. 4 Characters' behavioral actions\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFamily dynamics drawings require children to draw any action of their family members, which is conducive to understanding of the meaning of character activity content from the perspective of behavior and action, and exploring children's cognitive expression of family interaction content in drawing activities, so as to further understand the state of parent-child relationship. Malchiodi (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e) pointed out that children sometimes draw family interacting together or doing things individually, but they more commonly draw all the characters in a row. In this study, many of the children also drew family members in a row.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn talking to the children, we found that while most saw the picture as a representation of \"family playing together,\" a few children depicted more specific actions such as cooking, watering flowers, flying kites, dancing, etc. These are beautiful and often everyday scenes in children's lives, and perhaps they are based on their desires.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e3. 2. 5 Symbols\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of the children's drawings contain common symbols such as houses, the sun, flowers, trees, clouds, and flying objects. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e shows the token frequency of symbols in the picture. The building is the most frequent symbol, followed by the cloud. The apple tree is the least frequent.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab7\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 7\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSymbols in the picture\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSerial number\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eToken\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003efrequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlower\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSolar\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuilding (single- or two-stories)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eApple trees, trees\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cloud\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlying objects (birds, butterflies, kites, etc. )\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4 Discussions","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. 1 The role of mother\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMothers are the most significant figures in the psychological development of preschool left-behind children. First, in analyses of figure-drawing sequences, mothers are portrayed earliest, most frequently, and in the greatest number of depictions\u0026mdash;whether as individual subjects or within nuclear family compositions. Reynolds (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) has pointed out that the sequence of figures depicted in paintings typically represents self-concept and their hierarchical position within familial structures. Ji (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) proposes that the order in which figures are drawn first or last\u0026mdash;based on specific instructions\u0026mdash;constitutes a cognitive preparatory process operating consciously. Furthermore, in most cases, the sequence of figures depicted in children's drawings corresponds to their actual hierarchical positions within the family structure. Secondly, in analyses of omitted core family members, mothers were the least frequently excluded, appearing in 73.3% of the drawings. According to the possible explanation of family dynamics in drawings proposed by Zeng (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e), the omission of a family member in a child's drawing may represent rejection or disregard for that person, while the omission of oneself may represent a negative self-concept. In addition, Knoff and Prout (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e) also argued that in family painting, children's omission of themselves from their drawings may be a sign of the child's lack of self-concept and feelings of abandonment and neglect (See Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, regarding spatial proximity and figure size, mothers were most prominently depicted, suggesting that they are the toddlers' favorite family members and that the closest emotional bonds exist between toddlers and their mothers. In this study, the position between the toddler and the family members refers to the shortest distance in a straight line between the children's self-portrait and the portraits of the other family members. Burns and Kaufman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1970\u003c/span\u003e) argue that the distance between the figures in family drawings represents the closeness of the relationships. The KFD theory states that young children often draw their favorite people closest to them. For the size of the figures in family drawing, children draw themselves smaller, which indicates a poor self-concept and a feeling of irrelevance. Drawing themselves larger, on the other hand, indicates that they are more dominant and have more power and needs. In KFD, there is a high degree of confidence in the size of the characters, the direction of the interaction between the characters, the distance between the actions, and the proximity of the distances (Zeng, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). Mothers are most frequently depicted as the largest figures, further suggesting that they hold the most significant emotional significance for the children.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMothers play the most crucial role in children's development, and scientific parenting approaches are fundamental to fostering healthy parent-child relationship. However, in reality, many rural left-behind children's parents in China today have low educational attainment and severely lack knowledge about proper parenting methods. When researchers inquired about their parenting practices, most mothers responded with statements like: \"I don't know,\" \"I just follow the teacher's instructions,\" and \"We scold them when they disobey\u0026mdash;this is how we were raised too\u0026rdquo;. In practice, two main issues persist in child-rearing: On the one hand, mothers are often overwhelmed by household chores or migrant work, leaving minimal time for educational engagement with their children. On the other hand, even when present at home, many employ inappropriate disciplinary methods such as assigning academic tasks to preschoolers. While physical punishment has become less common, verbal reprimands and scolding remain prevalent. Many mothers demonstrate limited understanding of children's physical and psychological developmental needs, relying instead on their own upbringing experiences. More alarmingly, some mothers actively shirk their caregiving responsibilities, neglecting both guidance and emotional nurturing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"Heading\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. 2 The role of father and sibling\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe drawings by these left-behind children reveal patterns of neglect and rejection towards their fathers. Statistical analysis of figure omissions shows paternal absence emerges as the most prominent feature. According to the interpretation framework of (KFD) proposed by Taiwanese scholar Zeng (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e), the omission of others may signify rejection or disregard for that individual, while self-omission potentially indicates negative self-perception.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInterview findings demonstrate that the manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory. Among the 30 preschool left-behind children surveyed, only 2 explicitly identified their father as their favorite family member, with 4 additional children expressing general affection. The remaining 24 children either stated \"dislike,\" responded \"don't know,\" or remained silent. This empirical evidence suggests paternal absence has become a psychological reality for most left-behind children. But in Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, 10% drew fathers first (higher than grandparents), and in Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, 20% positioned fathers closest to themselves, which reveal the manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition, the study found that the siblings have become crucial sources of emotional support for left-behind children. When parents fail to provide sufficient warmth or a safe harbor, children turn to their siblings to build strong attachments. Sibling support can mitigate negative developmental challenges stemming from insufficient parental support (Cai, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Su et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). However, akin to parent-child attachment, fostering secure sibling bonds is critical; otherwise, negative sibling attachment patterns may adversely affect children's psychological development. This significance of siblings is evident in kinetic family drawings (KFD), where they emerge as primary emotional anchors, consistent play companions, and informal caregivers in the daily lives of left-behind children.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e4. 3 The situation of the children's mental health\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most critical issue facing left-behind children is the absence of nurturing care and emotional engagement they require. This stems primarily from prolonged parental migration for work. Although most left-behind children receive sufficient material provisions (e.g., food, clothing, and financial support), they experience significant deficits in parental affection and psychological attunement. Mental health deterioration has emerged as the paramount concern for this population. Analysis of their artwork and interview responses reveals pervasive emotional deprivation and intense longing for parental warmth. A majority demonstrate negative psychological states, including symptoms of depression, social rejection, and perceived neglect. Concurrently, rural left-behind children face systemic barriers to quality familial education. First, households typically operate under constrained socioeconomic conditions, with parents exhibiting low educational attainment. Furthermore, chronic parental absence fundamentally undermines early childhood developmental scaffolding within the home environment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrome Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, many left-behind children who drew apple trees, which is common in children's drawings. Li and Wu (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), in their book 'Drawing from the Heart: An Atlas of the Psychoanalysis of Drawing', explained that the fruit represents different things, such as hope, desire, reward, goal, achievement, etc. The ripening state of the fruit symbolizes the outcome of things. Additionally, according to Burns and Kaufman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1970\u003c/span\u003e), the sun, another common symbol in children's drawings, represents the need for warmth and acceptance. A child's different representations of the sun also reflect different meanings. For example, the dark sun is associated with frustration and depression. At KFD, flowers represent a beautiful love and growth process. Children draw flowers to symbolize their desire to be loved. Butterflies and bees symbolize the individual's pursuit of imaginary love and beauty. Kites symbolize the desire to break free and be free, and birds flying in the air also associate with the desire to be free and to break free from existing constraints.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFamily education operates as an affectively grounded, implicit pedagogical system, where efficacy hinges on sustained, attuned parent-child communication. Such reciprocal interactions foster secure attachment bonds, meeting children's needs for emotional safety and relational stability. However, chronic parental behaviors that induce persistent insecurity may trigger filial hostility\u0026mdash;a phenomenon Horney termed basic hostility. This psychological ambivalence manifests as coexisting dependency and resentment, ultimately disrupting normative child development. Within rural Chinese contexts, intergenerational caregiving by grandparents has become prevalent. The majorities of these elderly caregivers possess limited literacy and lack formal pedagogical training, compounded by diminished physical capacity and competing demands from agricultural labor and domestic duties. Consequently, they frequently resort to over-restrictive containment of grandchildren (e.g., prolonged home confinement and activity limitation), engendering chronic insecurity and social withdrawal tendencies in early childhood. Therefore, if possible, parents should try to avoid long-term go out for work. If working away from home is unavoidable, they must keep in touch with child and persistently provide care and emotional support. Parents should understand that companionship is crucial to their children's development. A good parent-child relationship is a necessary prerequisite for the healthy development of children. Parents must take responsibility for raising their children and do their best to spend time with them and communicate effectively (Fan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Liao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Zhao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeft-behind children are a social phenomenon arising from China's socio-economic transition, where a large-scale migration of rural labor to urban areas occurs within the framework of the urban-rural dual structure. This has led to the emergence of left-behind families and intergenerational caregiving in rural areas. Similar situations have occurred in many countries transitioning from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, resulting in varying degrees of family structure reorganization (Wu \u0026amp; Qi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). The problem of left-behind children is a social problem that needs the support of the government and society. Relevant studies have shown that current national rural revitalization policies, including the development of tourism economies and cultural industries, can provide the necessary impetus and financial support for rural governance. These efforts help enhance the level of village autonomy, improve the legal framework of grassroots communities, and drive the return of rural talent to strengthen governance capacity. Such measures are crucial for addressing issues like rural hollowing and improving rural governance (Huang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Liu et al., 2021, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Wang \u0026amp; Su., 2021; Zhang \u0026amp; Ji., 2022).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e4. 4 Limitations\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study has three primary limitations. First, the restricted sample size-drawn exclusively from one of China children's most socioeconomically disadvantaged provinces\u0026mdash;compromises generalizability. Regarding the issue of the small sample size of the \"Mothers' Work Group\", we have repeatedly confirmed and verified it. However, it is true that only 15 children are in this situation. During the investigation, we learned that the occurrence of this situation mainly has the following reasons: 1. The father has a serious physical or physiological illness. 2. The father has passed away. 3. The parents are divorced and the mother is raising the child alone. In rural areas of China, when children are in the early stages of their childhood, the situation where the mother goes out to work to support the family is extremely rare. Either the father goes out or they go out together, and the child is taken care of by the grandparents. The situation where the mother goes out to work to support the family is a relatively special and rare \"unavoidable situation\" in the family. Therefore, after careful discussion, we believe that we should respect the facts and focus on conducting statistics based on the overall situation of the left-behind children. We will make a statistically significant analysis of the overall situation of the parent-child relationship of the left-behind children. Therefore, future investigations will incorporate stratified sampling to circumvent analogous cohort representation limitations. At the same time, future investigations should expand sampling to include left-behind children in affluent and industrialized regions to enhance ecological validity. Second, methodological constraints arise from the inherent tension between generalizability and specificity in research design. To mitigate interpretive overreach, mental health assessments require triangulation through mixed-method approaches (e.g., integrating psychometric scales with observational data). For instance, symbolic interpretations in KFD (e.g., a sun representing a \"need for warmth\") may not universally apply beyond rural Chinese contexts. Third, while standardized tools provide population-level insights, they risk oversimplifying individual psychopathology. Incorporating longitudinal case studies could yield more nuanced representations of children's mental health trajectories, particularly regarding attachment disruptions and coping mechanisms.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5 Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003e(1) Parents working outside for a long time can seriously affect their parent-child relationship. Left-behind children scored significantly lower than non-left-behind children in terms of parent-child relationship.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) Mothers are the most important family members in children's lives. Firstly, in terms of the order of figure drawings, mothers are depicted first, most frequently, and with the largest number of portraits, both individual figures and within the nuclear family structure.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(3) The manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory. Among the 30 preschool left-behind children, only 2 children explicitly stated that their favorite family members were their fathers and only 4 children said that they liked their fathers. Of the remaining 24 children, they either expressed that they \"didn't like him,\" \"didn't know,\" or remained silent. This suggests that the father's \"absence\" has become the psychological reality of most left-behind children. But 10% drew fathers first (higher than grandparents), and 20% positioned fathers closest to themselves, which reveal the manifestations of father-child relationships among left-behind children may indeed be more complex and contradictory.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(4) Left-behind children often lack the care and attention they deserve. This is mainly because their parents work outside the home for long periods of time. Surveys indicate that while most of the left-behind children have adequate food, clothing and financial support, they lack parental love and care.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. All experimental protocols were approved by South China Normal University (SCNU) research ethics board. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eFunding:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis research was funded by the Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project of Guangdong Province in China (GD24XXL03) and the Striving for the First-Class, Improving Weak Links and Highlighting Features (SIH) Key Discipline for Psychology in South China Normal University.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eYao Wang completed conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing original draft, and writing-review and editing. Xuelan Liu completed conceptualization, methodology, project administration, and writing-review and editing. Weijun Wang completed writing-review and editing. Guangming Li completed software, supervision, validation, and writing-review and editing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe data are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBajaj A, Patel JA, Kabra A. The Kinetic Family Drawing Test for Evaluating Interpersonal Dynamics in Families: A Case Study. Medico-legal Update. 2020;20(4):81\u0026ndash;5.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBao L. (2016). Family relationships in the Minds of Left-behind Children (Master's thesis, Nanjing Normal University).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBerger KS. (2016). \u003cem\u003ePsychology of Children Aged 0\u0026ndash;12\u003c/em\u003e [Translated by Chen H. C.]. 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Beijing Normal University; 1989.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Rural preschool left-behind children, Parental absence, Parent-child relationship, Family dynamics drawing test, Public health","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7983726/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7983726/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study aimed to investigate the status and main factors of parent-child relationship among rural preschool left-behind children in China. Data were 436 children, aged 4\u0026ndash;6 years, randomly selected from 15 kindergartens. Guided by the theme \"My Story with Mum and Dad\", participants were instructed to complete Kinetic Family Drawings (KFD). This study used a mixed-methods approach, which integrated standardized questionnaires, behavioral assessments, and a systematic analysis of drawing indicators (e.g., the sequence of characters and symbolic elements). The analysis revealed that left-behind children demonstrated significantly lower scores in parent-child relationship quality than non-left-behind children (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -12.379, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001). The results showed that: (1) prolonged parental absence can have a serious impact on the parent-child relationship; (2) mothers are the most important family members in a child\u0026rsquo;s life; (3) left-behind children demonstrate a paradoxical psychological response to father absence, manifesting both defensive avoidance and underlying longing for paternal connection.; (4) left-behind children lack the care and attention they deserve.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Exploring the Impact of Parental Absence on Parent-Child Relationships of Left-Behind Preschool Children in Rural China Through Family Dynamics Drawing Test","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-24 16:35:43","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7983726/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"41f06001-0396-482e-8a0a-b0ed6d4c2f0b","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-21T11:45:05+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-24 16:35:43","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7983726","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7983726","identity":"rs-7983726","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}