Community building and mental health in mid-life and older life: Evidence from China

Abstract

The Chinese government has adopted a “community building” strategy nationwide to build community capacity by expanding community-based services since the mid-1980s. This study empirically examines whether the mental health among middle-aged and older Chinese adults is associated with the spearhead of this strategy, measured by the number of the amenities and organizations set within the community, and the years the community residents' committee has been in existence. Multilevel mixed regression analyses in SAS 9.2 of the data from The Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2008 Pilot Survey indicated that these two community-level variables explained the variances in mental health among middle-aged and older Chinese adults. Additionally, the number of amenities and organizations within the community was significantly associated with the mental health in midlife and later life, even after controlling for the individual-level socioeconomic and social ties and for support predictors. The empirical evidence from this study indicates that developing the community capacity by establishing the community-based grassroots organizations and semi-public spaces will benefit an individual's mental health in current China.