Perceived discrimination and psychosocial adaptation among poverty-relocated children with subjective socioeconomic status and core self-evaluations as mediating and moderating factors

IntroductionA large number of children have been relocated through poverty-alleviation programs into newly established resettlement communities in China. These children have experienced substantial environmental changes and may face significant challenges in psychosocial adaptation. The present study examined the mediating role of subjective socioeconomic status and the moderating role of core self-evaluations in the association between perceived discrimination and psychosocial adaptation among children relocated through poverty-alleviation initiatives.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,426 Chinese children from six schools in Guizhou Province. Perceived discrimination was treated as the independent variable, subjective socioeconomic status as the mediating variable, core self-evaluations as the moderating variable, and psychosocial adaptation as the dependent variable. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted using Hayes’s PROCESS macro in SPSS.ResultsThe results indicated that perceived discrimination was negatively associated with psychosocial adaptation and with both subjective socioeconomic status and core self-evaluations. Subjective socioeconomic status was positively associated with psychosocial adaptation and was linked to the association between perceived discrimination and psychosocial adaptation. In addition, core self-evaluations moderated the association between perceived discrimination and psychosocial adaptation. The observed interaction pattern may be interpreted cautiously as being consistent with a protective-reactive form of moderation.DiscussionThese findings provide insights into the psychological processes and individual differences associated with the psychosocial adaptation of children relocated through poverty-alleviation programs and may inform interventions aimed at supporting their adjustment in resettlement contexts.