A Meta-analysis Of Mental Health Status Of Left-behind Children In China

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "without the health of the whole people,there will be no well-off society in an all-round way." He stressed that "we should focus on the whole population and the whole life cycle." Since entering the20 th century,the rapid development of China’s social economy has driven the development of many aspects of the country.At the same time,it has a great impact on many aspects.For example,it has an impact on the mental health of children,whether it is normal children or left-behind children.Especially in the last ten years,the scale of left-behind children group is expanding rapidly.It has attracted the attention of all walks of life,and more concerns about the mental health of left-behind children.However,the results of previous literature on the mental health of left-behind children are contradictory.So,is the mental health status of left-behind children in China really poor? How does it change over time? What economic and social factors will affect the mental health of their left-behind children? All of these questions need to be studied.Meta-analysis methods can be used to integrate different viewpoints in literature research and explore the possible reasons for the divergence.In previous studies,90-item symptom self-rating scale(SCL-90)and mental health test scale(MHT)were mainly used to investigate the mental health status of left-behind children.There were 19 original SCL-90 studies that met the inclusion criteria,including90 independent samples,with a total sample size of 14,548 people.The results of the meta-analysis based on the SCL-90 scale showed: 1.The average effect size was between 0.2 and 0.4,and the average effect size was 0.2.The mental health of left-behind children is not serious.2.Significant geographical effect.The eastern part(0.137)was classified as a small effect,while the central part(0.224)and the western part(0.319)were classified as a medium effect.The mental health of left-behind children in eastern China is better,followed by that in central China,and the mental health of left-behind children in western China is worse.3.Gender effect is not significant.Boys(0.017)and girls(-0.043)were classified as small effect sizes,and there was no significant difference between the mental health degree of left-behind children and their gender effect sizes.4.Publication age effect is not significant.5.The group of subjects was not significant.6.There is a significant correlation between the unemployment rate and compulsion and somatization;There was a significant correlation between total dependency ratio and compulsion and somatization.A total of 678 studies were conducted based on MHT,90 of which met the criteria,and 90 of which contained 2 or more independent samples,a total of 100 independent samples.The sample size was 84,089 people.Meta-analysis results based on the MHT scale showed that: 1.The average effect size was between-0.4 and 0.016,and the eight factors had different degrees of influence on left-behind children.The mental health status of left-behind children is not serious,which is consistent with the conclusion of SCL-90.2.The regional effect is not significant.The mental health of left-behind children in central China is better,followed by that in eastern China,and that in western China is worse.3.The group effect of subjects was not significant.Primary school(D =0.139)was a small effect.The mental health status of left-behind children in primary school was good.Junior high school(D =0.239),belonging to the moderate to lower effect.4.Gender effect is significant.Male students(D =0.084),which is a small effect.The mental health status of left-behind male children is good.For girls(D =0.226),it belongs to the lower medium effect,and the mental health of left-behind girls and children is not very good.5.Publication age effect is not significant.6.The primary school enrollment rate is significantly correlated with allergy tendency and anxiety towards people;GDP was significantly correlated with allergy tendency.There was a significant correlation between per capita GDP and allergy susceptibility.On the whole,the mental health of left-behind children in China is not much different from that of the general population.In the past 20 years,the mental health of left-behind children has fluctuated,but there is no significant increase or decrease.Economic and social factors such as unemployment rate,total dependency ratio,primary school enrollment rate,GDP and per capita GDP have a significant impact on the mental health status of left-behind children.