Social Capital, Gender and Educational Level Impact on Self-Rated Health!2009-09-17!2010-03-11!2010-05-26! (original) (raw)
Related papers
Decomposing social capital inequalities in health
Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 2014
Background Research has shown network social capital associated with a range of health behaviours and conditions. Little is known about what social capital inequalities in health represent, and which social factors contribute to such inequalities. Methods Data come from the Montreal Neighbourhood Networks and Healthy Aging Study (n=2707). A position generator was used to collect network data on social capital. Health outcomes included self-reported health (SRH), physical inactivity, and hypertension. Social capital inequalities in low SRH, physical inactivity, and hypertension were decomposed into demographic, socioeconomic, network and psychosocial determinants. The percentage contributions of each in explaining health disparities were calculated. Results Across the three outcomes, higher educational attainment contributed most consistently to explaining social capital inequalities in low SRH (% C=30.8%), physical inactivity (15.9%), and hypertension (51.2%). Social isolation, contributed to physical inactivity (11.7%) and hypertension (18.2%). Sense of control (24.9%) and perceived cohesion (11.5%) contributed to low SRH. Age reduced or increased social capital inequalities in hypertension depending on the age category. Conclusions Interventions that include strategies to reduce socioeconomic inequalities and increase actual and perceived social connectivity may be most successful in reducing social capital inequalities in health.
Social capital and health—Purely a question of context?
Health & Place, 2011
Debate still surrounds which level of analysis (individual vs. contextual) is most appropriate to investigate the effects of social capital on health. Applying multilevel ecometric analyses to British Household Panel Survey data, we estimated fixed and random effects between five individual-, household-and small area-level social capital indicators and general health. We further compared the variance in health attributable to each level using intraclass correlations. Our results demonstrate that association between social capital and health depends on indicator type and level investigated, with one quarter of total individual-level health variance found at the household level. However, individual-level social capital variables and other health determinants appear to influence contextuallevel variance the most.
Social capital and health: does egalitarianism matter? A literature review
2006
The aim of the paper is to critically review the notion of social capital and review empirical literature on the association between social capital and health across countries. The methodology used for the review includes a systematic search on electronic databases for peer-reviewed published literature. We categorize studies according to level of analysis (single and multilevel) and examine whether studies reveal a significant health impact of individual and area level social capital. We compare the study conclusions according to the country's degrees of economic egalitarianism. Regardless of study design, our findings indicate that a positive association (fixed effect) exists between social capital and better health irrespective of countries degree of egalitarianism. However, we find that the between-area variance (random effect) in health tends to be lower in more egalitarian countries than in less egalitarian countries. Our tentative conclusion is that an association between social capital and health at the individual level is robust with respect to the degree of egalitarianism within a country. Area level or contextual social capital may be less salient in egalitarian countries in explaining health differences across places.
On Social Capital and Health: The Moderating Role of Income Inequality in Comparative Perspective
International Journal of Sociology, 2020
Past cross-national research has shown that health status does not exclusively depend on biology-related variables, but also on social capital measures, such as interpersonal trust and social participation. However, this literature has not considered network support, an important pillar of social capital when it is understood as access to resources within members of a network. In this article, we add this variable to the analysis to verify if previous findings still hold. We use data for 30 countries from ISSP's 2017 Social Networks survey module and multilevel modeling to show that network support is a relevant predictor of self-rated health status cross-nationally, while social participation and interpersonal trust are robust to its addition. We also find that income inequality moderates the association of social capital and self-rated health, indicating that a disintegrated society negatively affects the health of individuals, more so in countries where income inequality is high.
Inequality in Access to Social Capital in the Netherlands
Sociology, 2015
Whereas much research has been done on the benefits of social capital, less is known about the causes of the unequal distribution of social capital in people’s networks. This study examines inequalities in access to social capital in terms of the socio-economic resources that are embedded in personal networks. Using data from NELLS, a nationally representative survey of the Dutch population aged 15–45 years, results show that within this age group access to social capital increases with age and educational qualifications, and is lower among women. Residing in a less affluent neighbourhood and scoring lower on a measurement for cognitive abilities are associated with less social capital. Participation in voluntary associations and having an ethnically diverse network are associated with more access to social capital. Surprisingly, when studying differences across national origin groups, we do not find that Turkish immigrants are disadvantaged in access to social capital.
Your body knows who you know: social capital and health inequality
Does social capital, resources embedded in social networks, influence health? My dissertation examines whether social capital directly impacts depression, and how it interplays with other established structural risk factors linked to depression. I analyze unique data from the thematic research project "Social Capital: Its Origins and Consequences," collected in 2004-5 in the United States. I measure social capital through one recently developed network instrument, the position generator. I use structural equation modeling to test the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of social capital on depressive symptoms. I also use the instrumental variable method to verify the causal order in the relationship between social capital and depression. Results show that social capital is associated with the level of depression in four ways. Social capital is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms net of other variables. Part of the effect of social capital on depressive symptoms is indirect through subjective social status. Social capital mediates the associations of age, gender, being black (versus being white), marital status, education, occupation, annual family income, and social integration with depression. Social capital also interacts with gender, being black (versus being white), education, annual family income, and social integration. This research indicates that social capital is an important social antecedent of disease and illness. v Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my wonderful family: to the memory of my Dad, who was my hero, strict but loving, frugal but generous, a non-sociologist but knowledgeable about society and encouraged my sociological career; to Mom, who was my first teacher in life, convinced me of the importance of education for women, and supports my studies, local and overseas, with unconditional love; to Brother, who is always one year older than me, always watching me closely, and always standing by my side and rooting for me; to Sister-in-Law, who embraces me with the warmth of sisterhood; to Nephew, who is five-year old, and sings to me over the phone.
Social Science & Medicine, 2010
Individual aspects of social capital have been shown to have significant associations with health outcomes. However, research has seldom tested different elements of social capital simultaneously, whilst also adjusting for other well-known health determinants over time. This longitudinal individuallevel study investigates how temporal changes in social capital, together with changes in material conditions and other health determinants affect associations with self-rated health over a six year period. We use data from the British Household Panel Survey, a randomly selected cohort which is considered representative of the United Kingdom's population, with the same individuals (N ¼ 9303) providing responses to identical questions in 1999 and 2005. Four measures of social capital were used: interpersonal trust, social participation, civic participation and informal social networks. Material conditions were measured by total income (both individual and weighted household income), net of taxation. Other health determinants included age, gender, smoking, marital status and social class. After the baseline sample was stratified by health status, associations were examined between changes in health status and changes in all other considered variables. Simultaneous adjustment revealed that inability to trust demonstrated a significant association with deteriorating self-rated health, whereas increased levels of social participation were significantly associated with improved health status over time. Low levels of household and individual income also demonstrated significant associations with deteriorating self-rated health. In conclusion, it seems that interpersonal trust and social participation, considered valid indicators of social capital, appear to be independent predictors of self-rated health, even after adjusting for other well-known health determinants. Understandably, how trust and social participation influence health outcomes may help resolve the debate surrounding the role of social capital within the field of public health.
Social capital, trust in institutions, discrimination and self-rated health
Social capital, trust in institutions, discrimination and self-rated health. An epidemiological study in southern Sweden. Mohseni, Mohabbat 2008 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Mohseni, M. (2008). Social capital, trust in institutions, discrimination and self-rated health. An epidemiological study in southern Sweden. [Doctoral Thesis (compilation), Social Epidemiology].