ABSTRACT
Objective@#To compare life satisfaction and social desirability between only and non-only children in urban and rural areas, and to provide a basis for future mental health education guidance.@*Methods@#Stratified cluster sampling method was used to select 3 765 students of grade 4 and 5 from 9 primary schools in urban and rural area of Harbin. The contents of the questionnaires included general information survey, the Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) and the Children’s Social Desirability Scale (CSD).@*Results@#In the overall life satisfaction, county children had the highest satisfaction (5.10±0.50), while rural children had the lowest satisfaction (4.96±0.57);The life satisfaction of girls was higher than that of boys; The life satisfaction of only children was higher than that of non-only children(F/t=17.04,-5.91,2.21,P<0.05). In terms of social desirability, the social desirability of urban children(32.33±7.04) and county children (31.78±6.30) was higher than that of rural children(30.82±6.34).The social desirability of girls was higher than that of boys, the only children was higher than that of the non-only children (P<0.05). In the overall life satisfaction and all domains of life satisfaction apart from friend life satisfaction, the life satisfaction of urban girls was higher than that of boys(P<0.05). Except for county non-only children, the social desirability of girls was higher than that of boys (P<0.05). In the overall life satisfaction and all domains of life satisfaction apart from family life satisfaction, the life satisfaction of county boys was highest among three areas (P<0.05). In all domains of life satisfaction, the life satisfaction of county girls was highest and the life satisfaction of rural girls was lowest(P<0.05). In the family life satisfaction, the life satisfaction of only boys in urban areas was higher than that of non-only boys(P=0.03). In the overall, friend, living environment and self-dimension life satisfaction, the only and non-only children in the urban, county and rural area had significant differences (P<0.05). In addition, the life satisfaction of county children was highest and the life satisfaction of rural children was lowest. The social desirability of only children in urban and county areas was higher than that of only children in rural areas.@*Conclusion@#There are differences in life satisfaction and social expectations among urban, county and rural children in Harbin. Corresponding intervention strategies should be developed when administers psychological counselling to children.