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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1392153

The impact of family urban integration on migrant worker mental health in China

Provisionally accepted
Xiaotong Sun Xiaotong Sun *Mi Zhou Mi Zhou Li Huang Li Huang
  • Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: As China has undergone the processes of urbanization and economic development, a large migrant population has emerged, creating new family migration trends. Family migration brings about changes in urban integration costs and benefits, affecting health investment. Objective: The primary objective of this research is to investigate the influence of urban integration of migrant workers' families on their mental well-being, with the aim of offering policy recommendations conducive to the realization of a comprehensive public health strategy in China. Methods: This paper uses multi-dimensional indexes to measure family urban integration, covering economic, social and psychological dimensions, which may consider the complexity of integration. Utilizing a machine learning clustering algorithm, the research endeavors to assess the level of urban integration experienced by migrant workers and their respective families. The analysis discerns three distinct clusters denoting varying degrees of urban integration within these familial units, namely high-level, medium-level, and low-level urban integration. We applied binary logit regression models to analyze the influence of family urban integration on the mental health among migrant workers. Then we conducted a series of robustness tests.The results show that family urban integration decreases the probability of depressive symptoms by 14.6 percentage points. Further mechanism tests show that family economic integration enhances the psychological well-being of migrant workers by elevating their income status. Family social integration decreases depressive symptoms by increasing social status. Family psychological integration increases the psychological health of migrant workers by making them more satisfied with their lives. The heterogeneity test shows that family urban integration and its different dimensions have a strong impact on the depressive symptoms of women, first-generation, and less-educated groups.Conclusions: This study finds that family urban integration and its economic, social, and psychological dimensions significantly reduced the depressive symptoms of migrant workers. The results of this study lead the authors to recommend formulating a family-centered policy for migrant workers to reside in urban areas, optimizing the allocation of medical resources and public services, and improving family urban integration among migrant workers in order to avoid mental health problems in the process of urban integration.

    Keywords: migrant workers, family urban integration, Mental Health, depressive symptoms, machine learning

    Received: 27 Feb 2024; Accepted: 20 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sun, Zhou and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xiaotong Sun, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.