Abstract
Left-behind children face many threats to their survival, which leads to their externalizing problem behaviors. Previous studies showed that parental emotional neglect has a profound influence on left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors, but the mediating and moderating mechanisms that underlie this influence are unclear. The current study investigated the effects of parental emotional neglect on left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors, the mediating role of deviant peer affiliation, and the moderating role of beliefs about adversity in the association between parental emotional neglect and left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors. A sample of 1063 children (Mage=14.71, SD=1.64) from a rural area of Taiqian County anonymously completed the Emotional Neglect Scale, the Deviant Peer Affiliation Scale, the Beliefs about Adversity Scale, the Externalizing Problem Behaviors Scale and a demographic information questionnaire. After controlled for demographic variables, parental emotional neglect significantly and positively predicted left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors. The mediation