Abstract：Objective To analyze differences in nurturing behaviors of lift-behind children aged 12≤-≤35 months whose fathers or their parents went out for work. The survey was conducted in Pingshan County of Hebei Province, Lushi County of Henan Province, Yudu County of Jiangxi Province, Sansui County of Guizhou Province and Tongjiang County of Sichuan Province. Methods Stratified sampling was used to obtain the survey villages in above five poverty counties. All the left-behind children aged 12≤-≤35 months in the surveyed areas were investigated for nurturing behaviors with self-made questionnaires. Univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis were used to find the impact of different left-behind types on nurturing behaviors. Results A total of 680 left-behind children were included in the study, 68.5% of their parents were migrant workers, and the grandparents caregivers account for 73.0%. After controlling for the gender, ethnicity, depression, regions and economic conditions of the caregivers, the left-behind children aged 12≤-＜24 months and 24≤-≤35 months whose fathers were migrant workers had an increased risk (OR=2.81, 95% CI=1.67-4.73 and OR=3.16, 95% CI=1.81-5.49, respectively) of “early stimulation and responsive care” relative to those whose parents were both migrant workers. The left-behind children aged 12-24 months and 24≤-≤35 months whose fathers went out for work had increased at least 2 kinds of active nurturing behaviors than whose parents were both outside to work (OR=2.59, 95% CI=1.55-4.35 and OR=2.77, 95% CI=1.57-4.92, respectively). Among children of 24-35 months old, the left-behind children whose fathers were migrant workers had an increased risk of “availability of children′s books” than those whose parents both went out to work (OR=1.89, 95% CI=1.09-3.29). Conclusion The different types of left-behind children have an influence on nurturing behaviors, and the caregivers of the children whose parents both go out for work are inferior to those whose only fathers are migrant workers.
