Li Hanwei, Wu Xiaoheng
School of Management, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, China.
School of Public Administration and Policy, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China.
PLoS One. 2025 Aug 13;20(8):e0328440. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0328440. eCollection 2025.
Mental health is an important component of overall health. Currently, the mental health issues among Chinese workers are becoming increasingly severe, especially under the backdrop of increased uncertainty in career advancement, where depression and anxiety issues among young workers are prominent. Based on the panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2018 and 2020, this paper constructs an OLS regression model to empirically analyze the impact of career advancement constraints on workers' mental health and its mechanism of action. The study finds that limited career advancement significantly increases workers' depression index. Pathways such as extended working hours, deteriorated health conditions, and distorted labor value concepts play a partial mediating role, thereby reducing mental health levels. Heterogeneity analysis shows that compared to female, low-income, and low-educated individuals, male, those with medium to high income, and higher education levels are more likely to experience a decline in mental health due to career advancement constraints. This study provides empirical evidence for understanding the impact of career advancement uncertainty on mental health and offers important insights for improving occupational mental health policies and enhancing worker welfare.
心理健康是整体健康的重要组成部分。当前，中国劳动者的心理健康问题日益严峻，尤其是在职业发展不确定性增加的背景下，青年劳动者的抑郁和焦虑问题较为突出。基于2018年和2020年中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）的面板数据，本文构建OLS回归模型，实证分析职业发展受限对劳动者心理健康的影响及其作用机制。研究发现，职业发展受限显著提高了劳动者的抑郁指数。工作时长延长、健康状况恶化以及劳动价值观念扭曲等途径发挥了部分中介作用，进而降低了心理健康水平。异质性分析表明，与女性、低收入和低学历个体相比，男性、中等及以上收入和高学历个体因职业发展受限更易出现心理健康水平下降。本研究为理解职业发展不确定性对心理健康的影响提供了实证依据，为完善职业心理健康政策、增进劳动者福利提供了重要启示。
