OBJECTIVE: To examine the mental health symptoms among rural-to-urban migrants in China, in comparison with representative samples of their counterparts in the rural areas from where they emigrated and urban communities to which they immigrated. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey conducted in 2004-2005 in China. Both rural-to-urban migrants (n=1006) and urban residents (n=1000) were recruited in Beijing; the rural resident sample (n=1020) was recruited from the eight provinces of origin for 75% of the migrant sample. Mental health symptoms were measured using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). RESULTS: Both rural-to-urban migrants and rural residents scored higher than urban residents in all the SCL-90 global indices and subscales. The rural-to-urban migrants scored higher than rural residents on the SCL-90 Positive Symptom Distress Index and two subscales (depression and psychoticism). The difference remained significant after controlling for a number of key individual characteristics (age, gender, marital status, education, income and perceived general health) in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: The data in the current study demonstrate that rural-to-urban migrants suffer from lower mental health status than both urban residents in the immigrating communities and their rural counterparts in the emigrating communities. The data suggest a possible deteriorative effect of migratory experience on mental health status among rural-to-urban migrants in China and suggest an urgent need for etiological studies and for mental health promotion and prevention efforts among this growing population.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the mental health symptoms among rural-to-urban migrants in China, in comparison with representative samples of their counterparts in the rural areas from where they emigrated and urban communities to which they immigrated. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey conducted in 2004-2005 in China. Both rural-to-urban migrants (n=1006) and urban residents (n=1000) were recruited in Beijing; the rural resident sample (n=1020) was recruited from the eight provinces of origin for 75% of the migrant sample. Mental health symptoms were measured using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). RESULTS: Both rural-to-urban migrants and rural residents scored higher than urban residents in all the SCL-90 global indices and subscales. The rural-to-urban migrants scored higher than rural residents on the SCL-90 Positive Symptom Distress Index and two subscales (depression and psychoticism). The difference remained significant after controlling for a number of key individual characteristics (age, gender, marital status, education, income and perceived general health) in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: The data in the current study demonstrate that rural-to-urban migrants suffer from lower mental health status than both urban residents in the immigrating communities and their rural counterparts in the emigrating communities. The data suggest a possible deteriorative effect of migratory experience on mental health status among rural-to-urban migrants in China and suggest an urgent need for etiological studies and for mental health promotion and prevention efforts among this growing population.
Authors: Bao-Liang Zhong; Tie-Bang Liu; Helen F K Chiu; Sandra S M Chan; Chi-Yi Hu; Xue-Feng Hu; Yu-Tao Xiang; Eric D Caine Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2013-03-19 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Jing Dai; Bao-Liang Zhong; Yu-Tao Xiang; Helen F K Chiu; Sandra S M Chan; Xin Yu; Eric D Caine Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2014-11-18 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Christian Loret de Mola; Sanja Stanojevic; Paulo Ruiz; Robert H Gilman; Liam Smeeth; J Jaime Miranda Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2011-06-12 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Jie Li; Shu-Sen Chang; Paul S F Yip; Juan Li; Lucy P Jordan; Yunge Tang; Yuantao Hao; Xingmei Huang; Ning Yang; Chaoqi Chen; Qiaomei Zeng Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2014-12-16 Impact factor: 3.295