Social capital, migration stress, depression and sexual risk behaviors among rural-to-urban migrants in China: a moderated mediation modeling analysis

Abstract

Background: Few studies have examined the complex relationship of migration stress and depression with sexual risk behaviors among migrants. The relationship between migration stress and sexual risk behaviors may be mediated by depression, and the mediation process may be modified by social capital. The study aims to investigate this moderated mediation among rural-tourban migrants. Methods: Data were collected from rural-to-urban migrants in China. Migration stress, depression, and social capital were measured with validated scales and used as predictor, mediator and moderator, respectively, to predict the likelihood of having sex with risk partners. Mediation and moderated mediation models were used to analyze the data. Results: Depression significantly mediated the migration stress-sex with risk partner relationship for males (the effect [95%CI] = 0.36 [0.08, 0.66]); the mediation effect was not significant for females (0.31 [−0.82, 0.16]). Among males, social capital significantly moderated the depression-sex with risk partner relation with moderation effect −0.12 [−0.21, −0.04], −0.21 [−0.41, −0.01] and −0.17 [−0.30, −0.05] for total, bonding and bridging capital respectively. Conclusion: Social capital may weaken the association between migration stress and sexual risk behavior by buffering the depression-sexual risk behaviors association for males. Additional research is needed to examine this issue among females.

What is global health? Key concepts and clarification of misperceptions

“…Along with rapid and unevenly paced globalization, economic growth, and technological development, more and more medical and health issues with global impact emerge. Typical examples include growing health disparities, migration-related medical and health issues, issues related to internet abuse, the spread of sedentary lifestyles and lack of physical activity, obesity, increasing rates of substance abuse, depression, suicide and many other emerging mental health issues, and so on [10,23,36,42,[57][58][59][60]. GHRP is expecting to receive and publish more studies targeting these issues guided by a global health perspective and supports more researchers to look for global solutions to these issues.…”

“…However, it would not be considered as global if the purpose is purely to pursue profit. A research study on a medical or health problem among rural-to-urban migrants in China [57,58,60] can be considered as global if the researchers frame the study with a global perspective and include an objective to inform other countries in the world to deal with the same or similar issues.…”

Sexual risk-taking behaviors among young migrant population in Sweden

“…Migration is an everyday event with people moving from one place to another due to political, economic, and social factors such as climate change, economic shocks, famine, and political unrest. The perilous journey, the circumstances forcing migration, settling in a new environment, language and cultural differences, limited knowledge and information on the health system, financial and legal status uncertainties in the receiving country, and the need to adapt to new cultural norms, make migrants’ health needs and outcomes complex and sometimes challenging to achieve [ 1 , 4 ].…”

Role of social capital and self-efficacy as determinants of stress in pregnancy

“…It has a significant role in people's ability to access medical services and thus their health [ 2 ]. Studies show that people with greater social capital suffer less from mental health problems and it helps reduce stress through several ways including gaining access to information and other resources, strengthening self-worth, providing social support, and increasing self-confidence [ 4 5 ].…”