Urban stress in China

Abstract

The stress-distress model is examined in the context of a Chinese urban center, Tianjin. Conceptually, the relationship between stress (as reflected in life events) and distress (as reflected in depressed symptoms) is hypothesized to hold across societies. At the same time, the measures of stress must reflect the social reality of a particular community of society. In the case of urban China, the politically-imposed stratification system arranges individuals and family lives around work units. These work units dictate all aspects of the life of the worker and his or her family, ranging from housing, major purchases, access to local and distance facilities, schooling and employment for children, to retirement pension and funeral expenses. As a result, relationships in the work context are expected to produce stress-inducing conflicts. Results from a community survey of Tianjin residents in 1986 support both the generality of the stress-distress model and the specificity of the effects of work-related stressors.