Abstract:

A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between self-esteem and mental health of Chinese college students.Analysis of 30 studies (N = 14673) met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The result of meta-analysis showed : self-esteem had medium negative correlation to the factors of SCL-90, and self-esteem had significant effect on mental health. There was a higher significant correlation between self-esteem and depression, anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity. moderator analyses revealed that geographical distribution have significant moderating effects on these relationship between self-esteem and the factors of SCL-90. The results suggest that self-esteem is an important influencing factor to mental health.In particular, self-esteem is also predictive significantly to depression, anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity of mental health.

Key words: self-esteem, mental health, meta-analysis, moderator effect