Abstract
There is increasing evidence from the developed world that air pollution is significantly related to residents’ depressive symptoms; however, the existence of such a relationship in developing countries such as China is still unclear. Furthermore, although neighbourhood social capital is beneficial for health, whether it is a protective factor in the relationship between health and environment pollution remains unclear. Consequently, we examined the effects of cities’ PM2.5 concentrations on residents’ depressive symptoms and the moderating effects of neighbourhood social capital, using data from the 2016 wave of China Labourforce Dynamics Survey and the real-time remote inquiry website of Airborne Fine Particulate Matter and Air Quality Index. Results showed that PM2.5 concentrations and neighbourhood social capital may increase and decrease respondents’ depressive symptoms, respectively. Notably, neighbourhood social capital decreased the negative effect of PM2.5 concentrations on respondents’ depressive symptoms. These analyses contributed to the understanding of the effect of air pollution on mental health in China and confirmed that neighbourhood social capital were protective factors in the relationship between health and environment hazards.
Highlights
Depressive symptoms are a fundamental problem globally and are considered one of the most severe mental health problems [1]
We further examine whether neighbourhood social capital has a protective influence on the relationship between depressive symptoms and PM2.5 concentrations
We examined the effects of cities’ PM2.5 concentrations on respondents’ depressive symptoms in China while we tested whether neighbourhood social capital moderated the effect of PM2.5 concentrations on respondents’ depressive symptom, using three-level linear regression analyses
Summary
Depressive symptoms are a fundamental problem globally and are considered one of the most severe mental health problems [1]. Depression is associated with physical illnesses like cardiovascular problems [3,4], decreased quality of life [5], and decreased work productivity [6,7], and increases the mortality and suicide rate [3,4]. People who drink alcohol or smoke frequently and engage in fewer physical activities are more likely to suffer from depression than those who refrain from drinking, smoking and regularly exercise [2,3,4,5]
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