The Wealthier, The Psychologically Healthier? Assets, Debt, and Depressive Symptoms in Urban and Rural China

Jiaowei Gong, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University
Wanying Ling, The University of Hong Kong
Yang Zhang, Renmin University of China

Previous research has linked wealth to mental health, but how different components of wealth—assets and debt—affect depressive symptoms, and how these associations vary between urban and rural populations, remains unclear. Using data from four waves of the China Family Panel Studies, this study employed two-way fixed effects models to examine the associations between total net wealth, eight types of assets and debt, and depressive symptoms in China. Our findings indicate that total net wealth is negatively associated with depressive symptoms, but the effects vary by wealth component. Specifically, durable assets and savings are strongly negatively associated with depressive symptoms, while housing and financial assets do not show significant associations with depressive symptoms. Both debt and non-housing debt are positively associated with depressive symptoms, while non-housing debt has a more pronounced negative effect. Additionally, assets and debt are more influential on the depressive symptoms of rural residents than urban residents. This study contributes to the understanding of mental health inequality by offering a new perspective on the role of household wealth, and highlights the importance of both the economic and symbolic meaning of assets and debt in shaping mental well-being.

Keywords: Longitudinal studies , Economic Demography, Health and Morbidity, Families, Unions and Households

See extended abstract.