Trends of college students’ mental health from 2005 to 2019 and its rural–urban disparities in China

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Sun, Xin;Wang, Zuo-Jun;Li, Yuan-Yuan;Chan, Kai Qin;Miao, Xiao-Yan;Zhao, Shu;Wu, Yu-Qing;Li, Zhihua;Wu, Bei-Min
Abstract

[Extract] Poor mental health presents a significant issue in China as well as worldwide. The Regional Agenda for Implementing the Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020 in the Western Pacific indicated that more than 100 million people suffer from mental health disorders in the Western Pacific Region, which includes China (World Health Organization, 2015). Poor mental health has serious individual and societal consequences. Across all age groups, the number of Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) attributed to depressive disorders increased by 33.4% from 1990 to 2007, becoming the third leading cause of all-age YLDs in 2007. But the trend did not recede. Instead, from 2007 to 2017, there was a further increase of 14.3% (James et al., 2018). Mathers and Loncar (2006) suggested that by 2030 mental health difficulties will be the most significant disease burden in high income countries, accounting for up to 10% of disability-adjusted life-years. Mental health is strongly influenced by social and economic environments (Macintyre et al., 2018; Melgar and Rossi, 2012; Messias et al., 2011). As an example, the 2008 global financial crisis resulted in a significant increase in suicides among the adult population (Barr et al., 2012). Using data from more than 80,000 people from 93 countries responding to a 2007 Gallup Opinion Poll, Melgar and Rossi (2010) showed that income inequality (but not average income) was related to feeling depressed and that this effect was particularly strong for people living in cities, compared with rural areas.

Journal

Journal of Affective Disorders

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Volume

302

ISBN/ISSN

1573-2517

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Issue

1

Pages Count

10

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Publisher

Elsevier

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N/A

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.042