Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the study participants

Depressive symptoms (CES-D8 scores)

4.966

3.747

5.464

3.809

Independent variable

Housing debt (Yes = 1)

0.241

0.428

0.250

0.433

Bank housing loans (Yes = 1)

0.118

0.322

0.144

0.351

Non-bank housing loans (Yes = 1)

0.167

0.373

0.159

0.366

The amount of housing debt (yuan)

34,905

136,560

50,179

175,411

The amount of bank housing loans (yuan)

24,063

124,639

39,637

165,131

The amount of non-bank housing loans (yuan)

12,419

183,062

10,541

44,109

Control variables

Age

39.13

11.02

41.01

11.09

Education

8.909

4.499

9.137

4.623

Residence (Urban = 1)

0.494

0.500

0.519

0.500

Marital status (Married = 1)

0.822

0.382

0.834

0.372

Occupation (Agricultural work = 1)

0.353

0.478

0.341

0.474

Health status

3.113

1.171

3.074

1.168

Socioeconomic status

2.743

1.005

3.026

1.009

The total household income (yuan)

82,686

179,808

102,504

146,180

The total household non-housing debt (yuan)

14,849

75,156

19,115

102,386

The number of properties owned

1.129

0.600

1.151

0.660

The number of children

1.332

0.950

1.360

0.931

Observations

12,616

12,616