SynthesisBMC psychology2026
Psychological capital and mental health among Chinese university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the relationship between psychological capital and mental health among Chinese university students. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched seven databases (2010–2024) and included 52 studies involving 59,869 participants. Using random-effects models, results revealed a significant positive correlation between psychological capital and mental health (r = 0.47, 95% CI [0.44, 0.50]), indicating a medium-to-large effect. Among the four dimensions, optimism showed the strongest association (r = 0.51), followed by hope (r = 0.48), resilience (r = 0.45), and self-efficacy (r = 0.42). Psychological capital demonstrated stronger effects on positive mental health indicators (r = 0.48–0.52) than negative indicators (r = -0.40 to -0.45). Gender composition and publication period significantly moderated effect sizes. Sensitivity analyses confirmed result robustness, with no evidence of publication bias. These findings validate psychological capital as an important protective factor for Chinese university students’ mental health and support shifting from problem-focused interventions to positive resource-building approaches in university mental health education.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.