Data_Sheet_2_Correlations Between Social Support and Loneliness, Self-Esteem, and Resilience Among Left-Behind Children in Mainland China: A Meta-Analysis.docx

BackgroundSocial support is frequently reported to be correlated with loneliness, self-esteem, and resilience among left-behind children in mainland China. However, to date, there is no consensus on the extent to which those factors are correlated with social support among left-behind children. We thus performed a meta-analysis to quantitatively synthesize the previous findings.
MethodsTwo investigators systematically and independently searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Wan Fang, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and China Science Technology Journal Database (VIP) on January 9, 2022. Pooled Pearson's correlation coefficients between social support and loneliness, self-esteem, and resilience were calculated by Stata 16.0 software using random effects model.
ResultsForty-seven studies involving a total of 30 212 left-behind children were identified. A large degree of negative correlation was found between social support and loneliness [summary r: −0.36 (95% CI: −0.42– −0.30), p < 0.001]. Large positive correlations were found between social support and self-esteem, and resilience [self-esteem: summary r: 0.33 (95% CI: 0.24–0.41), p < 0.001; resilience: summary r: 0.45 (95% CI: 0.38–0.50), p < 0.001]. The pooled correlations revealed some discrepancies when stratified by some moderators. Sensitivity analysis also revealed the robustness of the findings. The Egger regression and Duvall and Tweedle trim-and-fill procedure suggest the absence of publication bias.
ConclusionThe current meta-analysis provided solid evidence that social support has a high degree of negative correlation with loneliness and a high degree of positive correlation with self-esteem and resilience among left-behind children in mainland China. This indicated that left-behind children with high levels of social support tend to have lower levels of loneliness and higher levels of self-esteem and resilience. More studies, especially large prospective studies, are warranted to verify our findings.

研究背景
既往研究普遍报道，中国大陆留守儿童的社会支持与孤独感、自尊及心理弹性存在相关性。但截至目前，学界对于上述因素与留守儿童社会支持的关联程度尚未达成共识。为此，本研究开展元分析以定量整合既往相关研究结果。

研究方法
2022年1月9日，2名研究者独立且系统地检索了PubMed、EMBASE、Web of Science、PsycINFO、万方数据、中国知网（Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, CNKI）以及中国科技期刊数据库（China Science Technology Journal Database, VIP）。采用Stata 16.0软件，通过随机效应模型计算社会支持与孤独感、自尊及心理弹性之间的合并Pearson相关系数。

研究结果
共纳入47项研究，涉及30212名留守儿童。结果显示，社会支持与孤独感呈显著负相关（合并相关系数r=-0.36，95%置信区间CI：-0.42~-0.30，p<0.001）；社会支持与自尊、心理弹性均呈显著正相关，其中自尊的合并相关系数r=0.33（95%CI：0.24~0.41，p<0.001），心理弹性的合并相关系数r=0.45（95%CI：0.38~0.50，p<0.001）。按部分调节变量进行分层分析后，合并相关系数存在一定差异。敏感性分析证实本研究结果具有稳健性。Egger回归法以及Duvall与Tweedle剪补法分析结果显示，本研究不存在发表偏倚。

研究结论
本项元分析为中国大陆留守儿童的社会支持与孤独感呈显著负相关、与自尊及心理弹性呈显著正相关提供了坚实的证据支持。这表明，社会支持水平较高的留守儿童，其孤独感水平更低，而自尊与心理弹性水平更高。未来仍需开展更多研究，尤其是大型前瞻性研究，以验证本研究结论。