Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health of Rural Adult Residents: The Roles of Hope and Subjective Well-Being

Meng Keqiang; Li Fenglan; Wang Li; Chen Min

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20230515

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (5) : 1148-1155. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20230515

Social，Personality & Organizational Psychology

Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health of Rural Adult Residents: The Roles of Hope and Subjective Well-Being

Meng Keqiang¹, Li Fenglan², Wang Li³, Chen Min¹

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Abstract

According to the latest China Mental Health Survey (CMHS), the weighted 12-month prevalence of any mental disorder (excluding dementia) among adults in rural China was much higher than that in urban areas (13.4% vs. 5.5%). To solve this situation, it is important to pay attention to the mental health of rural adult residents and to investigate its potential causes. Prior studies on the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on adult mental health have shown that low childhood socioeconomic status had far-reaching negative effects on adult mental health. However, the existing studies were based on Western samples. The cultural background and social system of rural China are different from Western countries, so the cross-cultural validity of the existing studies need to be verified among Chinese rural residents. Meanwhile, the mechanism underlying the relation between childhood socioeconomic status and adult mental health is unknown. To address this research gap, the current study examined the relationship between childhood socioeconomic status and the mental health of rural adult residents. Drawing from the reserve capacity theory, the life history theory, and the “scarring effect” theory of poverty, this study constructed a chain mediation model that childhood socioeconomic status was related to the mental health of rural adult residents via hope and subjective well-being (SWB).
By convenience sampling, 568 rural adult residents (297 men, mean age = 48.00 years, SD = 11.78 years) from 19 villages in a county of Hubei Province were selected. With informed consent, all of them completed a pencil and paper questionnaire (including the revised Childhood Socioeconomic Status Scale, the Chinese version of 12-item General Health Questionnaire, Adult State Hope Scale, Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale) in privacy, and all information collected was self-reported. The measurement tools in this study had sound reliability. Before testing hypotheses, all variables were standardized. SPSS 23.0 was used to test the correlations among variables. The chain mediation model was tested by the PROCESS macro for SPSS.
After controlling for demographic variables, the results indicated that: (1) There were significant positive correlations among childhood socioeconomic status, hope, SWB, and mental health. The lower the childhood socioeconomic status, the more likely the rural adult residents would exhibit poor mental health. (2) Hope mediated the relation between childhood socioeconomic status and the mental health of rural adult residents (95% CI = [.016, .039]). (3) SWB mediated the relation between childhood socioeconomic status and the mental health of rural adult residents (95% CI = [.003, .026]). (4) Childhood socioeconomic status affected the mental health of rural adult residents through a chain mechanism of hope and SWB (95% CI = [.003, .011]).
This study confirmed the negative impact of low childhood socioeconomic on adult mental health in rural China, by realizing "diluting hope", "reducing SWB", and the combination of the two. These results may inform practice. The promotion of Chinese rural residents' mental health cannot ignore the "upstream" and "remote" factors that affect adult mental health and should focus on early intervention and prevention. The alleviation of rural poverty should pay special attention to the minor children of relatively poor families, and take psychological intervention, particularly to increase their hope and SWB.

Key words

childhood socioeconomic status / mental health / hope / subjective well-being / rural residents

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Meng Keqiang, Li Fenglan, Wang Li, Chen Min. Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health of Rural Adult Residents: The Roles of Hope and Subjective Well-Being[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2023, 46(5): 1148-1155 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20230515

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