This study explored the influences of social participation and the mediating effects of social support on the mental health of Chinese elderly based on data from the 2012 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). The participants comprised 696 older adults in CLASS, including 340 (48.9%) male and 354 (50.9%) female. The mean age of the sample was 68 (standard deviation = 7.08). The results of structural equation modeling showed that social participation was significantly associated with the life satisfaction and depression of the elderly. A high level of social participation was associated with more social support and consequently predicted few depressive symptoms among older adults. However, social support was not significantly associated with life satisfaction of the elderly. Our findings provided cross‐cultural evidence for theories, and had significant implications for social work practice and social policy.

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This study aimed to examine the associations between marital relationships and parent-child relationships on children's mental health. Participants included 19,487 students from the 2013-2014 baseline China Education Panel Survey. Structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the data and results revealed that marital and parent-child relationships positively affected children's mental health. Parent-child relationship also played a mediating role between marital relationship and children's mental health. The unique contributions of this study and its theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

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This study aimed to explore the relationships among socioeconomic status (SES), social relations, and children's mental health. A sample of 19,487 school‐aged children was collected from the 2013–2014 wave of the China Education Panel Survey. Structural equation modeling was conducted with Amos (version 21) to test our theoretical model. Results showed that SES was not significantly related to children's mental health, whereas parent–child relations, peer relations, and teacher–student relations elicited complete mediating effects on the relationship between SES and children's mental health. On the basis of these findings, relevant theoretical and practical implications were proposed.