{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T06:15:58Z","timestamp":1788156958926,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788134400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Mental health problems impose a substantial social and economic burden in China. Yet population-based mental-health research has paid limited attention to literary literacy as a cultural resource embedded in everyday life. This study examines literary literacy as a multidimensional construct associated with adult mental health.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analysed 114,448 person-wave observations from six China Family Panel Studies waves (2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022). The reconstructed literary-literacy score combines two direct domains\u2014reading participation and language-cognitive capacity\u2014using equal weights after within-wave standardization. Respondent education, parental education and family cultural resources were removed from the score and entered as covariates. The analysis used generalized propensity-score inverse probability weighting, covariate adjustment, individual fixed effects, a generalized additive percentile profile, an observed-variable parallel-path structural equation model and product-term moderation models.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In the weighted covariate-adjusted model, a one-standard-deviation increase in reconstructed literary literacy was associated with a 0.058-SD higher mental-health score (95% CI [0.046, 0.070]). The within-person estimate was smaller (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.009, 95% CI [\u22120.001, 0.019]). In component models, the language-cognitive estimate was positive (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.075, 95% CI [0.066, 0.084]), whereas the average reading-participation estimate was close to zero (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03b2<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f\u22120.003, 95% CI [\u22120.009, 0.004]). The parallel-path model identified indirect coefficients through language expression, future confidence, interpersonal trust and life satisfaction, all with 95% confidence intervals above zero. The literary-literacy gradient was larger among women, rural residents, lower-income and lower-education groups, and adults aged 60 or older.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Reconstructing literary literacy from direct reading and language-cognitive indicators produced a positive adjusted association with adult mental health. The results locate the strongest average contribution in language-cognitive capacity and show that the joint profile varies across social groups.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1922601","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T05:41:33Z","timestamp":1788154893000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Literary literacy and mental health in contemporary China: evidence from the China family panel studies"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Hang","family":"Shi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Basic Courses, Xi\u2019an Railway Vocational & Technical Institute","place":["Xi\u2019an, Shaanxi, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste","author":"Bourdieu","year":"1984"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"China Family Panel Studies (CFPS): User\u2019s Guide and Documentation. 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