Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

This paper considers the impact of variables at three different levels – city, community, and individual – on the mental health of the elderly in China. The paper first sets out a theoretical framework emphasizing the relevance of city-level factors for an individual’s mental health. Evidence shows that income inequality and public health investment at the city-level exacerbates and reduces depression respectively. But these have no impact on depression when community-level factors such as infrastructure and health facilities are included in the model. Rural elderly females aged between 60-74 years are also more susceptible to depression and Chinese elderly who are underweight and smokers rather than drinkers are also more depressed. Understanding these complexities can provide policy options to targeted either the regional or community level but not both, thereby avoiding resource misallocation.