AUTHOR=Jin Huishuang , Liu Hui 

TITLE=How does livelihood capital alleviate psychological anxiety among immigrants?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1700964

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1700964

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=The world is facing a surge in migration, with global migrant numbers soaring. Their mental health issues cannot be overlooked. Livelihood capital, as a core resource for human survival and development, plays a vital role in safeguarding immigrants’ living standards and alleviating anxiety. Existing research has focused on single dimensions such as education, social capital, and housing conditions, overlooking the fact that livelihood capital is the result of the synergistic effects of multiple forms of capital. Moreover, previous literature has overlooked the role played by communities. Exploring this issue from the perspective of community governance capacity can fill this gap. Therefore, this study employs micro-level survey data from Hunan Province, China, and utilizes models such as the Oprobit model to empirically analyze the impact of livelihood capital on the anxiety levels of relocated poverty alleviation migrants. It also examines the roles played by livelihood strategies and community governance capabilities in this process. The regression results indicate that livelihood capital significantly reduces immigrants’ anxiety levels. Mechanism testing results indicate that livelihood capital can alleviate migrants’ psychological anxiety by improving livelihood strategies. Community governance capacity exerts a positive moderating effect on the influence of livelihood capital on immigrants’ psychological anxiety. Moreover, the contribution of livelihood capital to immigrants’ psychological anxiety varies across different settlement patterns, relocation duration, and age structures. Therefore, efforts should be made to enhance immigrants’ livelihood resources through multiple channels, strengthen the alignment between livelihood resources and livelihood strategies, and improve community governance capabilities, thereby safeguarding immigrants’ mental health.