{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T17:12:04Z","timestamp":1792084324492,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]],"date-time":"2020-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1600214400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A growing number of developing countries have experienced worsening air pollution, which has been shown to cause significant health problems. However, few studies have explored the impact of air pollution on the mental health of university students, particularly in the Chinese context. In order to address this gap, through a large-scale cross-sectional survey, this study aims to examine the effects of air pollution on final-year Chinese university undergraduates\u2019 (due to graduate in 2020) mental health by employing multivariable logistic regression. Our findings show that, first, although normal air quality is not strongly associated with lower levels of negative mental health, there is a strong link between poor air quality and higher levels of negative mental health. More specifically, life satisfaction hedonic unhappiness and depression measured by the Centre for Epidemiological Studies\u2019 Depression scale (CES-D) are statistically associated with air pollution. In addition, we also found that gender is a significant factor, as males had more than 1.6 times greater odds of increased mental health problems compared to their female counterparts. Place of birth also plays a significant role in participants\u2019 mental health. Moreover, undergraduates with urban household registration experienced significant levels of hedonic unhappiness and depression on the CES-D scale. Finally, we found that there is an association between respondents\u2019 economic situation and their mental health too. Overall, this study contributes to the research on air pollution management and mental health intervention, particularly in relation to student groups. The undergraduate curriculum should provide more guidance and suggestions on promoting mental health and establishing positive attitudes to life and academic study of the final year students, under the context of air pollution in China.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17186734","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]],"date-time":"2020-09-16T10:30:12Z","timestamp":1600252212000},"page":"6734","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["The Impacts of Air Pollution on Mental Health: Evidence from the Chinese University Students"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Daqing","family":"Zu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Foreign Studies, China University of Mining and Technology (Xuzhou), Xuzhou 221116, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keyu","family":"Zhai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Foreign Studies, China University of Mining and Technology (Xuzhou), Xuzhou 221116, China"},{"name":"Centre for Australian Studies, School of Foreign Studies, China University of Mining and Technology (Xuzhou), Xuzhou 221116, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Qiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of English Culture and Literature, Beijing International Studies University, Beijing 100024, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pei","family":"Pei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoxian","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Business School, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BA, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongho","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London WC1H 0NN, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"465","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeem.2018.10.002","article-title":"Air pollution, student health, and school absences: Evidence from China","volume":"92","author":"Shen","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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