Abstract
Economic growth and socioeconomic changes have transformed nearly every aspect of childhood in China, and many are worried by the increasing prevalence of mental health issues among children, particularly depression. To provide insight into the distribution of depressive symptoms among children in China and identify vulnerable groups, we use data from the 2012 China Family Panel Survey (CFPS), a survey that collected data from a large, nationally representative sample of the Chinese population. Using the CFPS data, we construct a sample of 2679 children aged 10–15 years old from 25 provinces in China. According to our results, the incidence of depression varies by geographic area. Specifically, we find that rates of depressive symptoms are significantly lower in urban areas (14% of sample children) than in rural areas (23% of sample children). Our results also show that children from ethnic minorities, from poorer families, and whose parents are depressed are more likely to be depressed than other children. In contrast, we find that depressive symptoms do not vary by gender.
Highlights
In recent decades, economic growth and socioeconomic changes have transformed nearly every aspect of childhood in China, especially education
After excluding 378 observations that were missing more than four responses to the 20 items in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scale, we reduced our sample to 2679 children
Using nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS), we demonstrate that the prevalence of childhood depressive symptoms in China is high
Summary
Economic growth and socioeconomic changes have transformed nearly every aspect of childhood in China, especially education. Parents invest heavily in their children in the hopes that they will be able to thrive in China’s highly competitive education system [1] In addition to these increased investments (and perhaps more importantly), it is believed that children are able to access higher quality education than in years past, which in turn increases their human capital and improves overall life outcomes [2]. There is another societal trend that may undermine this progress. Other studies show that the prevalence rate of depression among left-behind children is reported to range from 12.1% to 51.4% when using data from one or more provinces [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
