IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p2213-d1047245.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Migration Experience on Rural Residents’ Mental Health: Evidence from Rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Li Deng

    (School of Finance, Sichuan Vocational College of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 610074, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Xiaohua Hou

    (School of Finance, Sichuan Vocational College of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 610074, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Haiyang Lu

    (Institute of Western China Economic Research, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 610074, China)

  • Xuefeng Li

    (Institute of Western China Economic Research, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 610074, China)

Abstract

Migration experience is considered to be an important factor affecting mental health. With the increasing number of rural-to-urban migrant workers returning to their hometowns, the impact of migration experience on rural residents is worthy of noting. Using the data from the 2018 China Labor Dynamics Survey, this paper took migration experience as the identification criteria for returning migrant workers and empirically examined the impact of migration experience on rural residents’ mental health. Our results indicated that migration experience had a significant negative impact on the mental health of rural residents. That is, returning migrant workers had a worse mental health status than that of rural residents who never left their hometowns. Mechanism analysis showed that social support and social comparison played an intermediary role in the impact of migration experience on the mental health of rural residents. We also detected considerable heterogeneity in the effects of migration experience: the short-term returning migrant workers and the passive returning migrant workers are more likely to be negatively affected by the migration experience. Our results emphasized the mental health problem faced by returning migrant workers. The policy makers should strengthen psychological education and mental health consultation according to the intergenerational differences and individual characteristics of returning migrant workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Deng & Xiaohua Hou & Haiyang Lu & Xuefeng Li, 2023. "The Impact of Migration Experience on Rural Residents’ Mental Health: Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2213-:d:1047245
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2213/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2213/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Démurger, Sylvie & Xu, Hui, 2011. "Return Migrants: The Rise of New Entrepreneurs in Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1847-1861.
    2. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Glass, R., 1999. "Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(8), pages 1187-1193.
    3. Su, Yaqin & Tesfazion, Petros & Zhao, Zhong, 2018. "Where are the migrants from? Inter- vs. intra-provincial rural-urban migration in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 142-155.
    4. Frijters, Paul & Johnston, David W. & Shields, Michael A., 2010. "Mental Health and Labour Market Participation: Evidence from IV Panel Data Models," IZA Discussion Papers 4883, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Qin, Xuezheng & Wang, Suyin & Hsieh, Chee-Ruey, 2018. "The prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms among adults in China: Estimation based on a National Household Survey," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 271-282.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesca Cornaglia & Naomi E. Feldman & Andrew Leigh, 2014. "Crime and Mental Well-Being," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(1), pages 110-140.
    2. Hanibuchi, Tomoya & Murata, Yohei & Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kawachi, Ichiro & Kondo, Katsunori, 2012. "Place-specific constructs of social capital and their possible associations to health: A Japanese case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 225-232.
    3. Bu, Yan & Wang, Erda & Möst, Dominik & Lieberwirth, Martin, 2022. "How population migration affects carbon emissions in China: Factual and counterfactual scenario analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    4. Mahé, Clothilde, 2016. "Skills and entrepreneurship: Are return migrants 'Jacks-of-all-trades'?," MERIT Working Papers 2016-071, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. Bertoli, Simone & Marchetta, Francesca, 2015. "Bringing It All Back Home – Return Migration and Fertility Choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 27-40.
    6. Ajzenman, Nicolás & Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Guriev, Sergei, 2022. "Exposure to transit migration: Public attitudes and entrepreneurship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    7. Melissa P L Chan & Robert S Weinhold & Reuben Thomas & Julia M Gohlke & Christopher J Portier, 2015. "Environmental Predictors of US County Mortality Patterns on a National Basis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, December.
    8. Fan Wu & Ling-Hin Li & Sue Yurim Han, 2018. "Social Sustainability and Redevelopment of Urban Villages in China: A Case Study of Guangzhou," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, June.
    9. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "The Effect of Primary School Education on Preventive Behaviours during COVID-19 in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-12, May.
    10. Tiwari, Smriti, 2021. "Do macroeconomic fluctuations at destination matter in determining migrants’ return decisions?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    11. Zhong, Jingdong & Wang, Tianyi & He, Yang & Gao, Jingjing & Liu, Chengfang & Lai, Fang & Zhang, Liuxiu & Luo, Renfu, 2021. "Interrelationships of caregiver mental health, parenting practices, and child development in rural China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    12. Guangliang Yang & Lixing Li & Shihe Fu, 2020. "Do rural migrants benefit from labor market agglomeration economies? Evidence from Chinese cities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 910-931, September.
    13. Sirven, Nicolas, 2006. "Endogenous social capital and self-rated health: Cross-sectional data from rural areas of Madagascar," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1489-1502, September.
    14. Pabayo, Roman & Belsky, Jay & Gauvin, Lise & Curtis, Sarah, 2011. "Do area characteristics predict change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from ages 11 to 15 years?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 430-438, February.
    15. Fabrice Murtin & Federica Marzo, 2007. "HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa: a Bayesian Estimation," Cahiers de recherche 07-08, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    16. Xin Meng & Sen Xue, 2020. "Social networks and mental health outcomes: Chinese rural–urban migrant experience," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 155-195, January.
    17. infocede, 2001. "Desnutrición infantil en Colombia: inequidades y determinantes," Documentos CEDE 20100, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    18. Wight, Richard G. & Cummings, Janet R. & Miller-Martinez, Dana & Karlamangla, Arun S. & Seeman, Teresa E. & Aneshensel, Carol S., 2008. "A multilevel analysis of urban neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and health in late life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 862-872, February.
    19. Zwysen, Wouter, 2013. "Where you go depends on where you come from: the influence of father’s employment status on young adult’s labour market experiences," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    20. Akay, Alpaslan & Brausmann, Alexandra & Djajic, Slobodan & Kirdar, Murat Güray, 2018. "Purchasing-Power-Parity and the Saving Behavior of Temporary Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 11679, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:2213-:d:1047245. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.