@article{ref1,
title="The roads one must walk down: commute and depression for Beijing's residents",
journal="Transportation research part D: transport and environment",
year="2022",
author="Wang, Xize and Liu, Tao",
volume="109",
number="",
pages="e103316-e103316",
abstract="As a vital aspect of individual's quality of life, mental health has been included as an important component of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. This study focuses on a specific aspect of mental health: depression, and examines its relationship with commute patterns. Using survey data from 1,528 residents in Beijing, China, we find that every 10 additional minutes of commute time is associated with 1.1% higher probability of depression. We test for the mechanisms of the commute-depression link and find that commute is associated with depression as a direct stressor rather than triggering higher work stress. When decomposing commute time into mode-specific time, we found that time on mopeds/motorcycles has the strongest association with depression. Moreover, the commute-depression associations are stronger for older workers and blue-collar workers. Hence, policies that could reduce commute time, encourage work from home, improve job-housing balance or increase motorcyclists' safety would help promote mental health.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1361-9209",
doi="10.1016/j.trd.2022.103316",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2022.103316"
}