Objective: To investigate the detection rate and correlates of behavioral problems among eco-migrant children in Hui and Han ethnicities.
Methods: Using multistage randomized sampling method, 2 653 eco-migrant teenagers, 3 174 indigenous and 2 334 homeland peers were selected. Their parents were asked to finish the Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and a self-developed correlates questionnaire.
Results: 765 eco-migrant children with behavioral problems were detected, with detection rate as 28.8%, higher than that of homeland group (24.2%) and native group (19.3%) (χ(2) = 73.547, P < 0.012 5). Ecological migration mainly influenced factors as bad contacts, depression, obsessive-compulsive, discipline, attack for boys aged 6-11, bad contacts for boys aged 12-16 and extraversion behavioral problems for girls aged 12-16, in Hui. These factors both associated to eco-migrant children's behavioral problems in Hui and Han:cesarean section (OR = 1.863, 95% CI:1.144-3.035, for Han) and (OR = 2.979, 95% CI:2.067-4.293, for Hui), physical defects (OR = 1.730, 95%CI:1.087-2.751, for Han) and (OR = 2.552, 95%CI:1.649-3.950, for Hui), arable as a main income way(OR = 1.272, 95%CI:1.066-1.518, for Han) and (OR = 1.212, 95%CI: 1.033-1.422, for Hui), parents' education level above middle school (OR = 0.709, 95% CI: 0.539-0.932, for Han) and (OR = 0.698, 95%CI: 0.542-0.898, for Hui), parents' frequently in good mood (OR = 0.710, 95%CI:0.613-0.821, for Han) and (OR = 0.826, 95%CI:0.718-0.949, for Hui). However, major diseases in the process of growth (OR = 1.794, 95% CI:1.163-2.767), and parents with chronic illness or disability (OR = 1.463, 95% CI:1.061-2.016) only associated with that in Han;single-parent or remarried families(OR = 1.583, 95% CI:1.078-2.325), parents often drinking (OR = 1.557, 95%CI:1.019- 2.379), the time of parents' work longer than half a year (OR = 1.494, 95% CI:1.197-1.864), parents' more content to life now(OR = 0.813, 95% CI:0.700-0.945), and children in older age (OR = 0.939, 95%CI:0.889-0.991) only related to that in Hui.
Conclusion: The eco-migrant children showed a low state in mental health, especially among Hui peers, and the correlated factors were different in Han and Hui, which was supposed to get great importance when taking effective intervention.