Late-Life Depression among Rural Women in China

Exploring the Role of Education and Other Risk Factors

Lynn Hu

ResearchPublished Mar 27, 2024

Late-life depression poses a significant concern in China, particularly among older rural women who experience higher prevalence rates and heightened risk. This dissertation investigates the factors influencing late-life depression in this specific high-risk demographic. The first essay identifies early life factors and adult physical health as prominent predictors of late-life depression among rural Chinese women using machine learning models. The second essay explores a relationship between education and depression among middle-aged and elderly rural Chinese women, revealing a negative education gradient in late-life depression. The third essay employs a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design to assess the long-term impact of improved educational attainment on late-life depression, finding that increased schooling years lack an evident protective effect on late-life depression among the overall rural women population.

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Hu, Lynn, Late-Life Depression among Rural Women in China: Exploring the Role of Education and Other Risk Factors. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/rgs_dissertations/RGSDA3274-1.html.
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This document was submitted as a dissertation in December 2023 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the doctoral degree in Public Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. The faculty committee that supervised and approved the dissertation consisted of Tadeja Gracner (chair), Jennifer Bouey, Lisa Meredith, and Huiqiong Duan (outside reader).

This publication is part of the RAND dissertation series. Dissertations are written by Ph.D. candidates at the RAND School of Public Policy and supervised, reviewed, and approved by a RAND School faculty committee overseeing each dissertation. The RAND School is the world's leading producer of Ph.D.'s in policy analysis.

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