Migration–Citizenship Trajectories and Institutional Incorporation: Long-Term Mental Health Consequences
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Migration does not necessarily produce equivalent changes in institutional membership. This study examines how geographical mobility and institutional citizenship unfold jointly across adulthood and whether differentiated pathways of institutional incorporation are associated with long-term mental health. We analysed longitudinal data from 8,297 adults aged 60–80 in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011–2020). Sequence analysis reconstructed joint trajectories of rural–urban residence and institutional citizenship (hukou) between ages 15 and 60, which were linked to depressive symptoms (CES-D-10) using multilevel growth-curve models. Substantial inequalities emerged across migration–citizenship trajectories and persisted throughout later life. Rural–urban migrant workers retaining rural hukou, historically associated with more restricted access to urban social rights and protection, had depressive-symptom levels comparable to lifelong rural residents, whereas trajectories involving urban hukou were associated with more favourable outcomes. Longer migration duration was associated with modestly lower depressive symptoms among women, while the estimated association was essentially flat among men. The findings demonstrate that geographical mobility does not necessarily entail institutional incorporation and that the long-term consequences of migration depend on how geographical and institutional mobility are configured across adulthood.
Author: Nan Zhang
Institution: University of Manchester
Language: English
Topic: Migration, Health and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7214496209
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