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. 2025 Jul 17;25(1):2483.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23652-w.

Finding the link of acculturation: the impact of perceived neighbourhood-level residential environment on mental health among rural-to-urban migrants in China

Liyan Huang #  1   2 , Tianrong Xu #  3 , Hong Ching Goh  4 , Rosli Said  1 , Hui Song  2 , Xinyu Zhang  5
Affiliations

Finding the link of acculturation: the impact of perceived neighbourhood-level residential environment on mental health among rural-to-urban migrants in China

Liyan Huang et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The mental health of migrants living in the post-migration urban environment poses a significant public health challenge in both developed and developing economies. Few empirical studies attempted to disentangle the influence pathways that acculturation might produce the link between the residential environment and health effects.

Methods: Data from 385 migrants was collected using a multi-stage stratified sampling method from 25 communities in Yiwu, China. We used a multi-level regression model and conditional process analysis to examine the health effects of the perceived neighbourhood environment and influence pathways of acculturation.

Results: The results found that participants' mental health was moderate (mean = 15.9 out of 24). Migrants residing in relocation neighbourhoods and factory dormitories exhibit significantly lower mental health. The neighbourhood effects of migrant-dominated, local-dominated, and mixed residential neighbourhoods contribute positively to migrants' mental health. Neighbourhood physical environment positively affects mental health, whereas the neighbourhood social environment negatively affects mental health. Moreover, EGS (βindirect=-0.04, BootLLCI=-0.096, BootULCI=-0.002) and NSC (βindirect=-0.038, BootLLCI=-0.081, BootULCI=-0.007) impact migrants' mental health through the mechanism of acculturative stress. Migrants in the assimilation group experienced reduced acculturative stress as the NFA (β=-0.377, p = 0.035) improved. In contrast, those in the separation group faced increased acculturative stress as the improvements of NFA (β = 0.392, p = 0.05) and EGS (β = 0.809, p = 0.027).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that future public health intervention strategies should be considered for improved neighbourhood environments, promoted residential integration, alleviated acculturative stress and prioritised acculturation strategies to enhance rural migrants' mental health.

Keywords: Acculturation strategies; Acculturative stress; Mental health; Perceived neighbourhood-level residential environment; Rural-to-urban migrants.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study, approved by the Universiti Malaya Research Ethics Committee (UMREC) (Reference number: UM.TNC2/UMREC_2856), was conducted as migrants’ mental health research in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants were required to give written informed consent before they began the survey and interview. Moreover, participants were reminded that their participation was voluntary throughout the informed consent procedure. Consent for publication: Not application. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual framework
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The distribution of selected residential neighbourhoods
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Univariate analysis of variance in mental health
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The conditional process analysis of acculturation strategies on the relationship between NFA and EGS to acculturative stress
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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