Symptoms of psychological problems among Chinese migrant workers: The role of marital status

We analyzed how social avoidance, social distress, and social support affect symptoms of psychological problems among Chinese migrant workers. Participants were 407 migrant workers, who completed the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), and the Symptom Distress Checklist (SCL-90). The results were as follows: (a) overall, the symptoms of psychological problems among the migrant workers were serious, despite distinct differences according to gender and marital status; (b) the scores for the SCL-90 and SADS had a significant negative relationship with the rating on the SSRS, and the coefficient between scores on the SCL-90 and those on the SADS was at a moderate level despite distinct differences according to marital status; and (c) social distress of the unmarried and social avoidance and social distress of the married directly predicted their symptoms of psychological problems, whereas objective support and the utilization of support had more impact on married workers than on unmarried workers.