The moderating effect of trait gratitude between discrimination perception and social anxiety in the left-behind children

Objective To explore the relationship of discrimination perception and social anxiety of the left-behind children, focusing on the moderating effect of trait gratitude. Methods Totally 588 left-behind children were investigated with discrimination perception questionnaire, gratitude questionnaire and Liebowitz social anxiety questionnaire. Data were analyzed by independent t test, correlation analysis and regression analysis. Results There was a significant difference in group discrimination between the only child (2.11±0.98) and the non-only child (2.28±0.93) (t=-2.11, P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that trait gratitude (4.93±0.89) was negatively correlated with individual discrimination (2.53±1.03) and group discrimination (2.22±0.95) (r=-0.55, r=-0.56, both P< 0.05), furtherly negatively correlated with fear of negation (0.85±0.47) and social avoidance (0.81±0.53) dimensions of social anxiety (r=-0.47, r=-0.48, both P<0.05). Additionally, discrimination perception was positively correlated with social anxiety (r=0.61, P<0.05). Regression analysis showed that discrimination perception could significantly predict social anxiety (β=0.44, P<0.01), and trait gratitude could significantly moderate this effect (β=-0.75, P<0.01). Conclusion Discrimination perception can positively predict social anxiety, and trait gratitude can moderate this effect.