Birth cohort changes in anxiety levels among primary school students in China during 1995-2019: A cross-temporal meta-analysis

Abstract

To investigate birth cohort changes in anxiety levels among primary school students in China, we conducted a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 126 studies (N = 109,957) reporting the anxiety levels among primary school students in China during 1995-2019 using the Mental Health Diagnostic Test (MHT); higher MHT scores indicated higher anxiety. The results showed that: (1) The MHT scores for five types of mental health problems (social anxiety, lonely tendency, physical symptoms, terror tendency, and impulsive tendency) and the total MHT score were significantly negatively correlated with the data-collection year, indicating that the anxiety levels among primary school students in China decreased over time. (2) The MHT score for learning anxiety was significantly positively correlated with the data-collection year, indicating that the learning anxiety levels of primary school students in China increased over time. (3) The overall MHT score did not show significant gender differences, but gender-wise varying trends were observed in the types considered.

Keywords: Anxiety; Birth cohort; Chinese primary school students; Cross-temporal meta-analysis; Meta-analysis; Social change.