Depression and associated factors among women of childbearing age: A cross-sectional study based on the health ecology model

Depression among women of childbearing age (WCBA) is influenced not only by physiological mechanisms but also by complex social and environmental determinants, highlighting the need for a comprehensive, multilevel analytical framework. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies 2022, 5884 WCBA were included in the study. Based on the health ecology model, univariate and survey-weighted binary logistic regression analyses were conducted, and robustness was assessed using survey-weighted multiple linear regression. According to 2022 China Family Panel Studies data, the prevalence of depression among WCBA was 30.68%. In the fully adjusted survey-weighted logistic regression model, older age and higher subjective well-being were associated with lower odds of depression. Compared with participants who reported excellent self-assessed health, those reporting good, fair, and poor health had higher odds of depression. Compared with participants who were illiterate, those with primary school, junior high school, senior high school, and college or above education had lower odds of depression. Exercise was also associated with lower odds of depression. The findings were generally consistent in the robustness analysis using survey-weighted multiple linear regression. Depression among WCBA was associated with factors across multiple levels of the health ecology model, particularly individual characteristics, health-related behaviors, and psychosocial resources. This findings suggests that multilevel comprehensive intervention strategies should be adopted to more effectively prevent the onset of depression.