Linping Liu

The COVID-19 pandemic, which occurred at the end of 2019, impacted people at both the physical and psychological levels. However, the psychological status, especially its underlying psychosocial mechanisms, among the general population in Wuhan, the earliest epicenter and hardest-hit city in China during the pandemic, has not been well investigated. This chapter aimed to examine the relationships between exposures, perceived risk, and psychological distress among the general population in Wuhan during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data was from a cross-sectional online survey conducted from February 20 to March 4 in 2020. Final analyses included 4234 Wuhan respondents. The five-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist was adopted to assess respondents’ psychological distress. Nervousness, fear, and worry were found to be the most common symptoms among Wuhan residents during the lockdown. Exposure within close physical distance, exposure within social network, and perceived risk were significantly positively related to respondents’ psychological distress. Moreover, perceived risk mediated the effects of exposures on respondents’ psychological condition. These findings contribute to identifying the populations at higher risk of suffering psychological disturbance during the pandemic and are expected to inform the policy makers and mental health professionals to monitor and improve perception of risk among target population by appropriate interventions.

This study investigates the association between residential environment and depressive symptoms among older adults, and examines the mediating role of soci

Domestic workers usually perform manual work in households. Unlike fixed work, their work tends to be individualized and atomized. Their person–job fit and relationship with employers might exert some influence on their health, both physical and psychological. This quantitative study explores the association between person–job fit, health status, and depressive symptoms among Chinese domestic workers by identifying the employer–employee relationship as a mediator. Data is collected from a survey of Chinese domestic workers conducted in four cities of Nanjing, Wuxi, Guangzhou, and Foshan (N = 1,003) in 2019. We test our theoretical model by conducting structural equation modeling. The results show that demand–ability fit is indirectly related to heath status and depressive symptoms via the employer–employee relationship. Need–supply fit is significantly associated with health status and depressive symptoms both directly (70% for health status and 72% for depressive symptoms, separately) and indirectly, via the mediating effect of the employer–employee relationship (30% for health and 28% for depressive symptoms, separately). Our findings suggest that appropriate policy and vocational training should be implemented to improve the health status of Chinese domestic workers.

Depression and anxiety, as the two most prevalent psychiatric disorders, pose a huge challenge to the quality of life of the elderly. Using a sample of 7,721 elderly from the latest Chinese Longitudinal Health and Longevity Survey (CLHLS), the present study intended to explore the association between mental health and socioeconomic status, physical functional disability, and cognitive impairment among Chinese elderly by adopting multivariate logistic regression analyses. The results revealed that depression, anxiety, and their comorbidity are significantly higher in the elderly with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disability, cognitive impairment, financial strain, and living alone. Findings of the study will provide implications for policymakers, social workers, and individual caregivers to develop necessary intervention measures to improve the mental health of the elderly and promote successful aging.

After the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, we estimated the distribution and scale of more than 5 million migrants residing in Wuhan after they returned to their hometown communities in Hubei Province or other provinces at the end of 2019 by using the data from the 2013–2018 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS). We found that the distribution of Wuhan’s migrants is centred in Hubei Province (approximately 75%) at a provincial level, gradually decreasing in the surrounding provinces in layers, with obvious spatial characteristics of circle layers and echelons. The scale of Wuhan’s migrants, whose origins in Hubei Province give rise to a gradient reduction from east to west within the province, and account for 66% of Wuhan’s total migrants, are from the surrounding prefectural-level cities of Wuhan. The distribution comprises 94 districts and counties in Hubei Province, and the cumulative percentage of the top 30 districts and counties exceeds 80%. Wuhan’s migrants have a large proportion of middle-aged and high-risk individuals. Their social characteristics include nuclear family migration (84%), migration with families of 3–4 members (71%), a rural household registration (85%), and working or doing business (84%) as the main reason for migration. Using a quasi-experimental analysis framework, we found that the size of Wuhan’s migrants was highly correlated with the daily number of confirmed cases. Furthermore, we compared the epidemic situation in different regions and found that the number of confirmed cases in some provinces and cities in Hubei Province may be underestimated, while the epidemic situation in some regions has increased rapidly. The results are conducive to monitoring the epidemic prevention and control in various regions.

本文通过对珠江三角洲农民工问卷调查资料的回归分析， 试图检验在市场转型下的企业 制度和社会环境对农民工工资的影响。研究发现， 人力资本中的教育年限、本企业工龄等变 量对农民工工资有显著的正向影响， 年龄和性别也有显著影响；企业制度中的工种对工资有 显著影响， 表现出明显的等级性。企业所属行业、规模和企业性质对工资没有显著影响， 是 否签订劳动合同和缺工情况同样如此。社会资本变量和社会环境变量对农民工工资水平没有 显著影响。文章由此认为， 农民工的工资是处于分割的二元劳动力市场一端， 是高度市场化 的， 缺乏企业内部劳动力市场或晋升机制， 也少受劳动力市场用工情况变化影响， 没有地区 性差异， 是一个实实在在的、刚性的低工资。 This article attempts to examine the effect of the enterprise system and social environment under conditions of market transition on the wages of migrant workers using regression analysis of Pearl River Delta migrant worker survey data. The research found that among human capital variables, educational level and length of employment in their present firms have a significant positive effect on the wages of migrant workers, while age and gender also have a significant effect; among enterprise system variables, the type of work also significantly influences wages, demonstrating clear stratification. Industry, scale and firm type do not significantly influence wages, regardless of labor contract or labor supply status. Social capital variables and social environmental factors do not have a significant effect on peasant‐worker wage levels. The article therefore concludes that migrant worker wages are highly marketized and are at one extreme of a segmented dual labor market. They lack intra‐firm labor markets and promotion mechanisms, are little influenced by changes in labor market conditions, and show no regional variations. They represent low wages of an extreme rigidity.