How do Spatiotemporally Patterned Everyday Activities Explain Variations in People’s Mental Health?

Abstract

Everyday activities in space and time have received much research attention in recent years. Geographers are interested in not only the spatial and temporal patterns of people’s everyday activities, but also the implications of such activities for social inequality and health outcomes. This study investigates how individuals’ weekday and weekend mobility and activities are associated with mental health. We argue that everyday activities play an important role in mental health because of the cognitive and affective processes associated with, not to mention the spatiotemporal exposure incurred by, conducting these activities. Data were collected in 2018 from 1,985 respondents living in thirty neighborhoods of Shanghai, China. Path analysis models are developed to establish links between daily activities and mental health, controlling for sociodemographics and residential location. Results show that mental health differs significantly among people not only of different sociodemographic groups, but also with different daily activity patterns. Weekday and weekend activities are found to have different influences on mental health. This research extends the existing literature on mental health by considering the mental health impacts of individuals’ daily activities and travel. The research findings are relevant for developing spatial policy interventions to promote mental health.