The relationship between sense of coherence and psychopathological symptoms from childhood to early adulthood: a meta-analysis
Sense of coherence (SOC) as the key component of the salutogenesis framework is negatively correlated with psychopathological symptoms in adults but also in children and adolescents. Since SOC is conceptualized to develop and stabilize from childhood to early adulthood, these life phases are of critical importance for the salutogenesis concept. Individual studies examining SOC during this life period have yielded heterogeneous effect size estimates. Thus, the current meta-analysis quantified the current state of evidence on the association between SOC and psychopathological symptoms. The random-effects multi-level meta-analysis followed PRISMA guidelines and was based on 58 studies (71 samples) comprising 41,577 participants. Weighted mean age of participants was 15.36 years (SD = 3.32) and 51% were female. The mean correlation (r) between SOC and psychopathological symptoms was M(r) = -0.46, z = -12.67, p < 0.001, 95% CI [-0.53, -0.39]. However, there was substantial heterogeneity between studies after correction of sampling error. Subsequent moderator analyses showed that older sample age was associated with stronger negative relationships and higher internal consistency of SOC measures. Moreover, internalizing symptoms, depressive symptoms, and feelings of loneliness showed a stronger association with SOC than somatic symptoms. Results based on (repeated) cross-sectional data yielded a negative association between SOC and psychopathological symptoms with increasing magnitude from childhood to early adulthood. Future studies need to focus on the longitudinal bidirectional associations between SOC and psychopathological symptoms over the lifespan.