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Self‐concept of left‐behind children in C hina: a systematic review of the literature
Author(s) -
Wang X.,
Ling L.,
Su H.,
Cheng J.,
Jin L.,
Sun YH.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/cch.12172
Subject(s) - confidence interval , population , psychology , mental health , inclusion (mineral) , medicine , left behind , meta analysis , psychiatry , social psychology , environmental health
The aim of our study was to systematically review studies which had compared self‐concept in left‐behind children with the general population of children in C hina. Relevant studies about self‐concept of left‐behind children in C hina published from 2004 to 2014 were sought by searching online databases including C hinese B iological M edicine D atabase ( CBM ), C hinese N ational K nowledge I nfrastructure ( CNKI ), W anfang D atabase, V ip D atabase, P ub M ed D atabase, G oogle S cholar and W eb of S cience. The methodological quality of the articles was assessed by using N ewcastle‐ O ttawa S cale ( NOS ). Poled effect size and associated 95% confidence interval ( CI ) were calculated using the random effects model. C ochrane's Q was used to test for heterogeneity and I 2 index was used to determine the degree of heterogeneity. Nineteen studies involving 7758 left‐behind children met the inclusion criteria and 15 studies were included in a meta‐analysis. The results indicated that left‐behind group had a lower score of self‐concept and more psychological problems than the control group. The factors associated with self‐concept in left‐behind children were gender, age, grade and the relationships with parents, guardians and teachers. Left‐behind children had lower self‐concept and more mental health problems compared with the general population of children. The development of self‐concept may be an important channel for promoting mental health of left‐behind children.