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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Health Psychology

This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrating Health Psychology in Practice: Enhancing Well-Being and Improving Health Outcomes Across Diverse Contexts - Volume IIView all articles

The Association Between Subjective Socioeconomic Status and Depressive Symptoms in Women of Reproductive Age: The Chain Mediating Effects of Marital Satisfaction and Well-being

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
  • 2Second People’s Hospital of Weifang, Weifang, China., Weifang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective The underlying mechanism between subjective socioeconomic status(SSS) and depressive symptoms among women of reproductive age in China is not fully. This study aims to explore the mediating roles of marital satisfaction and well-being in the association between SSS and depressive symptoms. Methods A total of 4,219 women of reproductive age were selected from the 2022 China Family Panel Studies. Data related to SSS, marital satisfaction, well-being, and depressive symptoms were extracted. Spearman rank regression and bootstrap methods were used to analyze the chain mediation effects of SSS, marital satisfaction, well-being, and depressive symptoms. Results (1) SSS, marital satisfaction, well-being, and depressive symptoms were significantly correlated (p < .01). (2) SSS directly affected depressive symptoms (β = -0.1092, p < .001). (3) Marital satisfaction (β = - 0.0873, p < .001) and well-being (β = -0.0867, p < .001) each played a mediating role in the effect of SSS on depressive symptoms. (4) Marital satisfaction and well-being played a chain mediating role in the association between SSS and depressive symptoms in women of reproductive age (β = -0.0703, p < .001). Conclusion There is a chain mediation effect between SSS, marital satisfaction, well-being, and depressive symptoms in women of reproductive age. Improvement in SSS can enhance marital satisfaction, which in turn increases well-being, ultimately alleviating depressive symptoms in women of reproductive age.

Keywords: Women of reproductive age, subjective socioeconomic status, marital satisfaction, Well-being, depressive symptoms

Received: 29 Sep 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Han, 丁, Yang, Feng, Wang, Cai, Gao, Han, Hu and Ma. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Youli Hu, 13625369666@163.com
Anning Ma, yxyman@126.com

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