Are There Heterogeneous Impacts of Air Pollution on Mental Health?

Many studies reveal that air pollution is related to mental health. However, the level of impact and the regulatory mechanism of air pollution on different types of mental health are unknown. This paper examines the heterogeneous impact and mediating mechanisms of air pollution on mental health base...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Qingqing Hu, Yanhong Feng, Mark Xu
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/5a4c904bae8346d68a18a866703a39bd
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Many studies reveal that air pollution is related to mental health. However, the level of impact and the regulatory mechanism of air pollution on different types of mental health are unknown. This paper examines the heterogeneous impact and mediating mechanisms of air pollution on mental health based on data of 51 countries from 2010 to 2017 by using panel Tobit random effect model, mediating effect model, and bootstrap test. The findings show that, firstly, there is heterogeneous impact of air pollution on different types of mental health. Specifically, air pollution has a significant positive impact on depression; and the impacts on happiness and anxiety are closely related to income level. Secondly, the heterogeneous impact of air pollution on mental health is contingent on income levels. Thirdly, the heterogeneous impacts under different income levels are exacerbated by different levels of education and population density. Lastly, the mediating effect of physical health on different types of mental health is also heterogeneous. To be specific, the effects of air pollution on depression and anxiety are partly mediated by physical health; whereas the effect on happiness is not. These findings contribute to the understanding of air pollution on public health, and have significant implication for social and public health policy makers.