Factors Influencing Depression in Chinese Civil Servants

Abstract

We analyzed depression in Chinese civil servants, using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and a survey completed by people employed by the Civil Service in 6 cities in eastern China. The results showed that the HAMD is a valid and effective measure for assessing depression in Chinese civil servants. As we had assumed, Chinese civil servants manifested a strong sense of despair, which was consistent between the genders. In general, however, depression had a greater impact on female than on male civil servants. In the linear regression model with demographic variables as independent variables, we found that gender, education level, and marital status were significant predictive factors of depression, but income and age were not. We suggest that although civil servants may enjoy a more lucrative job and a better material lifestyle compared to other people in China, the issue of their mental health merits attention.

Preliminary validation of a Chinese version of the comprehensive assessment of acceptance and commitment therapy processes

“…A large number of studies have shown that civil servants in various regions of China have different levels of anxiety, depression, burnout, and other psychological problems due to particular aspects of their work and environment (Li et al, 2013;Xu, Zhao, Wang, & Sun, 2010;Hao et al, 2014;Hao, Hong, Xu, Zhou, & Xie, 2015b). Ethnicity, resilience, and demographic characteristics are all considered to be factors affecting the mental health of civil servants (Fu et al, 2017;Hao et al, 2015b;Hong, Xie, Zhou, Hao, & Xu, 2015;Huang et al, 2018). Poor psychological flexibility is an important cause of many psychological and behavioral problems (Zhang, Wang, & Zhu, 2012).…”

“…Many questionnaires have been used to measure mental health symptoms of Chinese civil servants, such as the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD; Huang, Cao, Liu, Yao, & Rui, 2018), the twelve-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12; Lu & Liang, 2016), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12; Liang, Wang, & Yin, 2016), the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90, Zhu et al, 2014), and the Civil Servants Stress Scale (CSSS, Hao et al, 2015a). However, no studies have measured the psychological flexibility of them.…”

Preliminary Validation of a Chinese Version of the Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes

“…A large number of studies have shown that civil servants in various regions of China have different levels of anxiety, depression, burnout, and other psychological problems due to particular aspects of their work and environment (Li et al, 2013;Xu, Zhao, Wang, & Sun, 2010;Hao et al, 2014;Hao, Hong, Xu, Zhou, & Xie, 2015b). Ethnicity, resilience, and demographic characteristics are all considered to be factors affecting the mental health of civil servants (Fu et al, 2017;Hao et al, 2015b;Hong, Xie, Zhou, Hao, & Xu, 2015;Huang et al, 2018). Poor psychological flexibility is an important cause of many psychological and behavioral problems (Zhang, Wang, & Zhu, 2012).…”