Tsinghua University in partnership with Blackmores Institute has released a new Green paper titled: 'Mental Wellbeing of Chinese Career Women'.
Developed from a joint commitment to improving China’s national health literacy, the paper is a follow-on from the pair’s first collaboration ‘The Health of Chinese Career Women’ which found that that psychological problems are a serious but invisible health challenge for career women.
Assessing the results of this new paper, Dr Lesley Braun, Director of Blackmores Institute noted:
“Over 80% of Chinese career women reported that they experienced anxiety or depression symptoms over the past year, with those born after the 1990s reporting the highest rates.”
According to the paper, Career women attribute their mental wellbeing concerns to three major factors – workplace stress, financial pressures, and worries about their physical appearance. The problem is more serious among younger generations.
At the same time, modern lifestyle habits, such as staying up late, overuse of mobile phones, and living alone – are also influencing mental wellbeing. In addition, pregnancy, a special but potentially vulnerable stage in the life of a career woman, is a time where respondents faced greater risk of depression. Responding to these issues, Chinese career women prefer talking with friends, shopping and sleeping rather than seeking help from psychological professionals.
As the pace of Chinese society increases against the backdrop of rapid economic and social transformation, mental well-being issues have become an increasingly important public health concern.
“Mental wellbeing is currently an elevated priority in China’s national health agenda. We are proud to contribute to this agenda through our collaboration and help to tackle the mental wellbeing problems of Chinese career women – in turn, helping to elevate their overall health status,” said Prof Li Xiguang, Director of Tsinghua University’s International Center for Communications.
The project employed an online questionnaire survey in 1199 Chinese career women aged 20 to 59 years old across various regions of China. The new research reveals that mental wellbeing concerns among Chinese career women are growing.
Based on these findings, one-on-one interviews with experts from a variety of relevant fields including psychology, nutrition, obstetrics and gynaecology and health communications were conducted to generate practical insights and solutions for the mental wellbeing of Chinese career women.
It is hoped this green paper will be a small starting point for cross-sector collaboration that supports the positive development of mental well-being in China.
Read the 2019 Green paper 'Mental Wellbeing of Chinese Career Women'
Read the 2018 Green paper 'The Health of Chinese Career Women'
×
To continue reading this article, please
Log In or
Sign Up for access.