Abstract：With the increasing economic disparity and rapid urbanization in China, a large number of rural residents migrate to cities to seek employment and leave their children behind in the rural area. Many researchers have raised concerns about the neglect of left-behind children in China’s rural villages. Despite the growing body of literature focusing on left-behind children’ school adjustment and academic self-efficacy, this work has been limited to cross-sectional studies. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between left-behind children’ academic self-efficacy and school adjustment using a design and analytic approach that attempts to overcome some of the limitations of previous research. Based on our conceptual model, the research formulated the following two hypotheses: H1: There will be a change in left-behind children’ school adjustment over time; that is, there will be within-person variability in a participant’s level of left-behind children’ school adjustment.H2: Change in left-behind children’ academic self-efficacy is positively related to change in left-behind children’ school adjustment. Participants were 142 left-behind children in junior middle school, who were followed up for two years from grade seven to grade eight. Assessments of left-behind children’s academic self-efficacy and school adjustment were obtained from self-reports at four time points. The results showed: (1) the linear trend of left-behind children’s school adjustment was not significant, but significant individual differences in initial levels and change in left-behind children’s school adjustment were found.(2) In controlling for gender and social economic status, the initial level of academic self-efficacy has significant positive impact on the initial level of school adjustment, but not on the development speed of school adjustment. (3)The change of academic self-efficacy has positive impact on the development speed of academic school adjustment.
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