IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v382y2025ics0277953625006689.html

Examining the link between housing characteristics and individual mental health within the context of socio-spatial inequality in China

Author

Listed:
  • Liang, Zurong
  • Ren, Wanting

Abstract

Housing is not only a fundamental necessity but also a critical investment that significantly impacts mental health. This study investigates the relationship between residential and financial housing attributes and depressive symptoms, with a focus on the moderating role of socio-spatial factors, particularly housing inequality. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and applying hierarchical linear modeling, the analysis compares the explanatory power of residential attributes (i.e., space, condition, and neighborhood environment) and financial attributes (i.e., tenure, quantity, wealth, and affordability) in relation to mental health outcomes. The results indicate that residential attributes—such as the quality and environment of the living space—are more strongly and consistently associated with depressive symptoms than financial attributes. Additionally, housing inequality is found to be linked to higher levels of depression, diminishing the mental health benefits of favorable individual housing, especially in regions with greater inequality. In these areas, individuals with more affordable homes and larger housing spaces are particularly vulnerable to the psychological effects of housing inequality, suggesting that socio-spatial dynamics significantly influence the housing-mental health relationship. These findings underscore the need for policies that not only address the physical and financial dimensions of housing but also tackle the broader structural inequalities that affect residents' well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Liang, Zurong & Ren, Wanting, 2025. "Examining the link between housing characteristics and individual mental health within the context of socio-spatial inequality in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 382(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:382:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625006689
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118337
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625006689
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118337?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Siliang Wang & Conghui Cheng & Shukui Tan, 2019. "Housing Determinants of Health in Urban China: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1245-1270, June.
    2. Mason, Kate E. & Baker, Emma & Blakely, Tony & Bentley, Rebecca J., 2013. "Housing affordability and mental health: Does the relationship differ for renters and home purchasers?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 91-97.
    3. Wilkinson, Richard G & Pickett, Kate E., 2006. "Income inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1768-1784, April.
    4. Shukui Tan & Siliang Wang & Conghui Cheng, 2016. "Change of Housing Inequality in Urban China and Its Decomposition: 1989–2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 29-45, October.
    5. Yilmazer, Tansel & Babiarz, Patryk & Liu, Fen, 2015. "The impact of diminished housing wealth on health in the United States: Evidence from the Great Recession," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 234-241.
    6. Zhang, Ping & Sun, Lin & Zhang, Chuanyong, 2021. "Understanding the role of homeownership in wealth inequality: Evidence from urban China (1995–2018)," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Yue Wang & Zidan Mao & Donggen Wang, 2023. "Housing affordability and mental health in urban China: a cross-sectional study," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 484-504, March.
    8. Zou, Yonghua, 2022. "Paradigm shifts in China’s housing policy: Tug-of-war between marketization and state intervention," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. j. Albert Cao & Ramin Keivani, 2014. "The Limits and Potentials of the Housing Market Enabling Paradigm: An Evaluation of China's Housing Policies from 1998 to 2011," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 44-68, January.
    10. Chris Foye & David Clapham & Tommaso Gabrieli, 2018. "Home-ownership as a social norm and positional good: Subjective wellbeing evidence from panel data," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(6), pages 1290-1312, May.
    11. Bjelland, Ingvar & Krokstad, Steinar & Mykletun, Arnstein & Dahl, Alv A. & Tell, Grethe S. & Tambs, K., 2008. "Does a higher educational level protect against anxiety and depression? The HUNT study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(6), pages 1334-1345, March.
    12. Li, Keyang & Qin, Yu & Wu, Jing, 2020. "Recent housing affordability in urban China: A comprehensive overview," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    13. Zi-qing Yuan & Xian Zheng & Eddie C. M. Hui, 2021. "Happiness Under One Roof? The Intergenerational Co-residence and Subjective Well-Being of Elders in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 727-765, February.
    14. Shenghua Xie, 2019. "Quality matters: housing and the mental health of rural migrants in urban China," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 1422-1444, October.
    15. Anita Ratcliffe, 2015. "Wealth Effects, Local Area Attributes, and Economic Prospects: On the Relationship between House Prices and Mental Wellbeing," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(1), pages 75-92, March.
    16. Gastwirth, Joseph L, 1972. "The Estimation of the Lorenz Curve and Gini Index," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 54(3), pages 306-316, August.
    17. Feng Hu, 2013. "Homeownership and Subjective Wellbeing in Urban China: Does Owning a House Make You Happier?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 951-971, February.
    18. Swope, Carolyn B. & Hernández, Diana, 2019. "Housing as a determinant of health equity: A conceptual model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    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. Min Zhou & Wei Guo, 2023. "Self-rated Health and Objective Health Status Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: A Healthy Housing Perspective," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-24, February.
    2. Phuong Thu Nguyen & Preety Srivastava & Longfeng Ye & Jonathan Boymal, 2022. "Housing and occupant health: Findings from Vietnam," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1297-1321, December.
    3. Tongtong Qiu & Siliang Wang, 2024. "Housing Tenure, Intrahousehold Homeownership Structure and Health," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(4), pages 2035-2062, August.
    4. Atalay, Kadir & Edwards, Rebecca & Liu, Betty Y.J., 2017. "Effects of house prices on health: New evidence from Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 36-48.
    5. Lijian Xie & Suhong Zhou & Lin Zhang, 2021. "Associations between Objective and Subjective Housing Status with Individual Mental Health in Guangzhou, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    6. Kwon, Keun Young & Kim, Jinho, 2025. "Housing hardship and health: Longitudinal evidence of the mediating role of health behaviors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    7. Andrew E. Clark & Luis Diaz-Serrano, 2023. "Do individuals adapt to all types of housing transitions?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 645-672, June.
    8. Liping Liao & Wenjie Wu & Chenglei Zhang, 2022. "Housing prices and the subjective well-being of migrant workers: evidence from China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3363-3388, October.
    9. Jane Zavisca & Theodore Gerber & Hyungjun Suh, 2021. "Housing Status in Post-Soviet Contexts: A Multi-dimensional Measurement Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 609-634, January.
    10. Denary, Whitney & Fenelon, Andrew & Schlesinger, Penelope & Purtle, Jonathan & Blankenship, Kim M. & Keene, Danya E., 2021. "Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    11. Jing Zou & Xiaojun Deng, 2021. "The complex association between migrants’ residential community choice and subjective well‐being: Evidence from urban China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 1652-1679, September.
    12. Jaesang Sung & Qihua Qiu, 2020. "The Impact of Housing Prices on Health in the United States Before, During, and After the Great Recession," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 910-940, January.
    13. Amy Clair, 2019. "Housing: an Under-Explored Influence on Children’s Well-Being and Becoming," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(2), pages 609-626, April.
    14. David M. Cutler & Noémie Sportiche, 2022. "Economic Crises and Mental Health: Effects of the Great Recession on Older Americans," NBER Working Papers 29817, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Ming Hu & Kai Zhang & Quynh Camthi Nguyen & Tolga Tasdizen & Krupali Uplekar Krusche, 2022. "A Multistate Study on Housing Factors Influential to Heat-Related Illness in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, November.
    16. Wang, Xize & Liu, Tao, 2022. "Home-made blues: Residential crowding and mental health in Beijing, China," SocArXiv cy8hz, Center for Open Science.
    17. Susan J Smith & Melek Cigdem & Rachel Ong & Gavin Wood, 2017. "Wellbeing at the edges of ownership," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(5), pages 1080-1098, May.
    18. Downing, Janelle, 2016. "The health effects of the foreclosure crisis and unaffordable housing: A systematic review and explanation of evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 88-96.
    19. Xize Wang & Tao Liu, 2022. "Home-made blues: Residential crowding and mental health in Beijing, China," Papers 2207.07985, arXiv.org.
    20. Feiwei Shen & Jing Zou & Xianhong Huang & Cong Wang & Mingjie Zhao, 2022. "Career Development, Institutional Factors, Social Factors and Urban Young Returnees’ Happiness in the Context of Healthy China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-20, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:socmed:v:382:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625006689. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.