The Relationship between Energy Poverty and Individual Development: Exploring the Serial Mediating Effects of Learning Behavior and Health Condition

Abstract

Energy poverty has negative impacts on the residents' life from various aspects. A comprehensive understanding of these impacts is the top priority in energy poverty governance. Previous qualitative studies have shown that energy poverty has the potential to negatively impact the individual development of residents through multiple pathways. However, few scholars have explored this issue from a quantitative perspective. To fill the gaps in existing research, this study aims to examine the impact of energy poverty on individual development and explore the serial mediating effects of learning behavior and health condition in the relationship. A total of 2289 valid samples are obtained from the dataset of Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS 3.5 are used to conduct serial mediating effects analysis. The results show that energy poverty can significantly negatively impact the individual development of residents. Learning behavior and health condition are found to independently or serially mediate the relationship between energy poverty and individual development. Health condition has the stronger mediating effect, whereas the mediating effect of learning behavior is weaker. This study may contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of energy poverty in government and academia.

Impacts of workplace automation on energy poverty: The new challenge of achieving SDG 7 in the context of technological revolution

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Energy Poverty and Personal Health in the EU

“…Children, women, and the elderly are most susceptible, as are low-income households. Building on this research, Xiao et al [ 46 ] showed that energy poverty has a negative impact on individual development and learning behavior, and that learning behavior and health conditions are correlated with energy poverty.…”

Linking Housing Conditions and Energy Poverty: From a Perspective of Household Energy Self-Restriction

“…Current research on energy poverty in China falls into three main categories of topics: (1) assessing energy poverty in China [ 57 , 58 ]; (2) exploring the factors [ 59 , 60 , 61 ] influencing energy poverty from macro and micro perspectives; and (3) analyzing the impact of energy poverty on income [ 62 ], health [ 63 , 64 ], personal development [ 65 ], child well-being [ 66 ] and psychological status [ 67 , 68 ] from a household perspective. However, only a small number of studies have discussed the link between buildings and energy poverty [ 24 , 25 , 59 ].…”