Chen Xinguang, Yu Bin, Gong Jie, Wang Peigang, Elliott Amy L
School of Public Health, Global Health Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Soc Indic Res. 2018 Aug;139(1):327-346. doi: 10.1007/s11205-017-1617-1. Epub 2017 Apr 6.
Working-age migrants need to possess adequate social capital in order to secure a stable and satisfactory job so that they can pursue a better quality of life (QOL). The positive relationship between social capital and vocational experiences, including successful employment, has been well established. In this study we focused on testing a multi-step mediation model linking social capital with employment experiences, and further to QOL. Survey data from rural-to-urban migrants randomly selected from Wuhan, China were analyzed. Social capital, including bonding and bridging capital, was measured using the Personal Social Capital Scale; employment experiences were measured using five job-related items; and QOL was measured using the Brief Symptoms Inventory. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that job security and job satisfaction were positively and significantly associated with QOL, and social capital measures were significantly associated with higher QOL (primarily for males). Furthermore, job security and job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between social capital and QOL after controlling for covariates. Findings of this study suggest the significance of social capital, job security and satisfaction in improving migrants' QOL, implying the importance of vocational experiences in mediating the effect from social capital to QOL. If the findings can be confirmed with longitudinal data, these factors should be considered in decision making to improve rural-to-urban migrants' QOL in China.
劳动年龄移民需要拥有足够的社会资本，以获得稳定且令人满意的工作，从而能够追求更高质量的生活（QOL）。社会资本与职业经历（包括成功就业）之间的正向关系已得到充分确立。在本研究中，我们着重测试一个将社会资本与就业经历进而与生活质量相联系的多步中介模型。对从中国武汉随机抽取的农村到城市移民的调查数据进行了分析。社会资本，包括结合型和桥接型资本，使用个人社会资本量表进行测量；就业经历使用五个与工作相关的项目进行测量；生活质量使用简明症状量表进行测量。结构方程模型分析表明，工作安全感和工作满意度与生活质量呈显著正相关，且社会资本测量指标与更高的生活质量显著相关（主要针对男性）。此外，在控制协变量后，工作安全感和工作满意度完全中介了社会资本与生活质量之间的关系。本研究结果表明社会资本、工作安全感和满意度在改善移民生活质量方面的重要性，这意味着职业经历在中介从社会资本到生活质量的影响方面具有重要意义。如果这些结果能够通过纵向数据得到证实，那么在中国改善农村到城市移民生活质量的决策中应考虑这些因素。
