THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL CAPITAL AND WORKERS' MENTAL HEALTH IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA.

Social capital had a significant positive correlation with workers' mental health after controlling for relevant variables.

• β=0.317, p<0.01
• Data sourced from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2022
• Study participants were the working-age population aged 16 to 65
• Mental health was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Survey Depression Scale (CESD) Short Scale, where higher scores indicated better mental health
• Control variables included income level, social status, education level, age, marital status, and household registration status

Social trust showed a significant positive association with workers' mental health.

• β=0.342, p<0.001
• Social capital was operationalized into three dimensions: social network, social trust, and reciprocity
• Standardized scores for each dimension were generated through exploratory factor analysis

Social networks showed a significant positive association with workers' mental health.

• β=0.218, p<0.01
• This was one of three dimensions of social capital examined alongside social trust and reciprocity

No significant association was found between reciprocity and workers' mental health in the overall sample.

• Reciprocity was one of the three dimensions of social capital operationalized in the study
• Unlike social trust and social networks, reciprocity did not show a statistically significant association with mental health at the overall sample level

The protective effect of social capital on mental health varied significantly across income levels.

• For low-income groups, social trust showed a stronger protective effect (β=0.452, p<0.001)
• For low-income groups, reciprocity also exhibited a significant protective effect (β=0.174, p<0.05), unlike in the overall sample
• For high-income groups, social networks played a relatively prominent role (β=0.241, p<0.01)
• The authors characterize this as a 'compensatory effect' of social capital on the mental health of low-income workers

Multicollinearity was not a concern in the regression models used in this study.

• Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) diagnostics were performed for all independent variables in the full models
• All VIF values were well below the conservative threshold of 5
• The authors concluded there was 'no severe multicollinearity that would bias the regression estimates'