Given the “community lost” vs. “community saved” debate on how neighborhood solidarity changes with urbanization, we compared the rural-urban difference in the association of individuals' ...neighborhood social capital with health and the interaction effect between neighborhood social capital and income-poverty on health in China, where huge rural-urban disparities existed. Participants were 5014 Chinese adults (≥ 18 years) (rural: 2034; urban: 2980) from the 2012 cross-sectional Chinese General Social Survey. Health outcome was a factor score constructed by three items. Neighborhood social capital was divided into structural (neighborhood network size, frequency of socializing with neighbors, voting in neighborhood committee election, and participation in neighborhood voluntary activities) and cognitive (perceived neighborhood social cohesion) dimensions. Multivariable linear regression models showed positive associations between perceived neighborhood social cohesion and health in rural (β = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03,0.14) and urban (β = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.05,0.12) areas. Only in rural but not urban areas was a neighborhood network of 10 or more persons (ref.: none) associated with better health (β = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.05,0.46). Interaction analysis showed that only in rural but not urban areas, with the increase of neighborhood network size, the health gap between the income-poor and the non-income-poor decreased generally. Our study suggested that cohesive neighborhoods benefit both rural and urban residents' health. Health interventions to improve neighborhood social cohesion should be designed to cope with the challenge of urbanization. Policymakers should avoid damaging neighborhood social capital when implementing other public policies, especially in rural areas where neighborhood network seems to matter more for health.
•Rural residents generally had more neighborhood social capital than urbanites.•Neighborhood network size was positively associated with health in rural areas.•Neighborhood network size narrowed the poverty-related health gap in rural areas.•Perceived neighborhood social cohesion may improve health in rural and urban areas.•Neighborhood social capital interventions should take into account challenges of urbanization.
Social capital could protect mental health. We examined whether the COVID-19 context and province-level COVID-19 situation altered the longitudinal association between cognitive social capital ...(generalized trust, trust in neighbors, trust in local government officials, and reciprocity) and depression. Results from multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models showed that trust in neighbors, trust in local government officials, and reciprocity were more crucial in longitudinally reducing depression in 2020 than in 2018. Also, as compared with provinces where the COVID-19 situation was less poor, trust in local government officials in 2018 was more crucial in reducing depression in 2020 in provinces with a worse COVID-19 situation. Therefore, cognitive social capital should be taken into account for pandemic preparedness and mental health resilience.
•Pre-COVID-19 cognitive social capital protected against peri-COVID-19 depression.•Cognitive social capital was more crucial in reducing depression in 2020 than 2018.•2018 trust in local government officials was more crucial in reducing depression in provinces with worse COVID-19 situations.•Cognitive social capital should be taken into account for pandemic preparedness.
This study aims to enrich the comprehension of the effect of living density on anxiety and stress among adults in a global city. A random sample of 1,978 Hong Kong adults was interviewed in a ...cross‐sectional population study in 2014–2015. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between housing variables and mental health indicators, namely, anxiety and stress. Logistic regression analysis results have shown that by controlling the confounding effect of demographic variables, income poverty, housing ownership and housing cost, the living density was significantly associated with anxiety and stress of residents. Compared with those living in high density of <7 m2, living in medium density of ≥7 and <13 m2 was significantly associated with lower risk of anxiety (adjusted OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.30–0.88), and the risk was less for those living in low density of ≥13 m2 (adjusted OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.23–0.72). Meanwhile, living in low density of ≥13 m2 was significantly associated with a lower risk of stress (adjusted OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.20–0.97). These results highlighted the significant impact of living density on personal anxiety and stress. Moreover, female, younger adults or those living in income poverty were also at risk of anxiety and stress. In conclusion, our findings implied that improving housing policies, such as building public housing with adequate living areas and market regulation of living density of private housing, would help enhance the mental well‐being of residents.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic exposes and amplifies pre-existing inequalities even in places with relatively well-controlled outbreaks such as Hong Kong. This study aimed to explore whether the ...socioeconomically disadvantaged fare worse via various types of worry in terms of their mental health and well-being. Between September and October 2020, 1067 adults in Hong Kong were recruited via a cross-sectional population-wide telephone survey. The inter-relationship between deprivation, types of worry, mental health disorders, and subjective well-being was assessed using structural equation modelling. Results showed significant total effects of deprivation on worries about being infected (p = 0.002), economic activities and livelihood (p < 0.001), and personal savings (p < 0.001), as well as mental health disorders (p < 0.001) and subjective well-being (p < 0.001). Specifically, worry about economic activities and livelihood partly mediated the total effect of deprivation on mental health disorders (p = 0.004), whereas worry about personal savings and worry about economic activities and livelihood partially mediated the total effect of deprivation on subjective well-being (p = 0.007 and 0.002, respectively). Socioeconomic inequality, particularly in mental health and well-being, could be exacerbated via people’s economic concerns during the pandemic, which was largely induced by the COVID-19 containment measures rather than the pandemic per se given the relatively low COVID-19 incidence in Hong Kong.
There has been a rising trend of labor migration globally. Given their alien status within the legal framework of the host countries, migrant domestic workers (MDWs) are especially vulnerable to poor ...employment conditions that may affect their health status, yet there is still a lack of quantitative evidence in this population hitherto. Using randomly sampled data from a cross-sectional survey of 2,017 live-in female MDWs in Hong Kong, a setting with a high concentration of MDWs, this study examined the association of employment conditions with physical and mental health among the MDWs. We observed poorer physical and mental health status among the MDWs when compared with the general population in Hong Kong. Our findings suggest that employment conditions, including household size, working on the rest day, and housing type, and age were associated with physical health, while employment conditions, including not ever receiving wages on time, frequency of financial remittances, paying the employment agency, having a private room, fulfillment of work-related needs, physical abuse, and discrimination, and sociodemographic characteristics, including age and duration of migration, were associated with mental health. Social support in general did not confound these associations, but religious activities and daily contact with friends were also associated with mental health. Our findings have important implications in designing interventions and policies to improve the physical and mental well-being of this vulnerable migrant population.
Compared with children of non-migrant parents, left-behind children had an increased risk of mental health problems, including depression (risk ratio RR 1·52 95% CI 1·27–1·82; standardised mean ...difference SMD 0·16 0·10–0·21), anxiety (RR 1·85 1·36–2·53; SMD 0·18 0·11–0·26), and suicidal ideation (RR 1·70 1·28–2·26), and nutritional problems such as wasting (RR 1·13 1·02–1·24) and stunting (RR 1·12 1·00–1·26). Other problems associated with the Chinese household registration system include poor access to health care and social welfare, and inadequate community and familial support for migrant parents and their children who migrate with them. Many parents who migrate are employed by global companies, and thus the associated health problems of left-behind children cannot be contained within an internal migration framework alone and should be considered within a global context.
The metabolic impact of inadequate sleep has not been determined in healthy individuals outside laboratories. This study aims to investigate the impact of sleep duration on five metabolic syndrome ...components in a healthy adult cohort.
A total of 162121 adults aged 20-80 years (men 47.4%) of the MJ Health Database, who were not obese and free from major diseases, were recruited and followed up from 1996 to 2014. Sleep duration and insomnia symptoms were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Incident cases of five metabolic syndrome components were identified by follow-up medical examinations. Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated for three sleep duration categories "< 6 hours/day (short)," "6-8 hours/day (regular)," and "> 8 hours/day (long)" with adjustment for potential confounding factors. Analyses were stratified by insomnia symptoms to assess whether insomnia symptoms modified the association between sleep duration and metabolic syndrome.
Compared to regular sleep duration, short sleep significantly (p < .001) increased the risk for central obesity by 12% (adjusted HR 1.12 1.07-1.17), for elevated fasting glucose by 6% (adjusted HR 1.06 1.03-1.09), for high blood pressure by 8% (adjusted HR 1.08 1.04-1.13), for low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol by 7% (adjusted HR 1.07 1.03-1.11), for hypertriglyceridemia by 9% (adjusted HR 1.09 1.05-1.13), and for metabolic syndrome by 9% (adjusted HR 1.09 1.05-1.13). Long sleep decreased the risk of hypertriglyceridemia (adjusted HR 0.89 0.84-0.94) and metabolic syndrome (adjusted HR 0.93 0.88-0.99). Insomnia symptoms did not modify the effects of sleep duration.
Sleep duration may be a significant determinant of metabolic health.
Introduction
Alcohol consumption has been steadily increasing in East Asia, however, there is comparatively little regional data of alcohol‐related harms. This study examines the alcohol‐related ...harms prevalence and risk factors in Hong Kong, a high population density city with limited alcohol regulation.
Methods
A cross‐sectional telephone survey was conducted in 2019 on Chinese adults aged 18–74 (n = 3200). Respondents were asked about various past‐year first‐hand drinking harms (after one's own drinking), second‐hand harms (harms from other people's drinking) and views of neighbourhood alcohol outlet regulation.
Results
Of drinkers, 21.1% reported first‐hand alcohol harms, with physical/mental health harms (15.7%) most commonly reported. Younger‐aged drinkers (adjusted odds ratios AOR 2.64, 95% confidence interval CI 1.63, 4.48) and heavy drinkers (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 1.55, 3.55) were more likely to report first‐hand harms. Of the sample, 18.2% experienced past‐year second‐hand harms, with public harms (12.9%) most commonly reported. Young age (AOR 1.88, 95% CI 1.43, 2.49), higher education (AOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.13, 1.83), past‐year binge drinking (AOR 4.29, 95% CI 3.04, 6.05) and communal living (AOR 2.04, 95% CI 1.13, 3.75) predicted greater likelihood of second‐hand alcohol harms. Higher neighbourhood alcohol outlet density was not associated with any first‐hand harms and only significantly predicted being inconvenienced by drinkers. Although victims of second‐hand alcohol harms were more supportive of regulating outlet density, 93.3% of respondents were opposed to such policies.
Discussion and Conclusions
Although high levels of alcohol‐related harms were not reported by Hong Kong adults, regulations should target young drinkers and binge drinkers who are most likely to experience drinking‐related harms.
PDF
