Abstract
The aim of this study was to use a multilevel analysis to examine whether cognitive and structural dimensions of regional social capital were associated with individual health outcomes after adjusting for compositional factors. Data from the Japanese General Social Surveys project, a nationwide study with a two-stage stratified random sampling method conducted in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006, were aggregated and used for the multilevel analysis (n = 11,702). We examined whether both cognitive and structural aspects of social capital (social trust, neighborhood safety, and social participation) were associated with the self-rated health (SRH) of residents from 118 regions after adjustment for compositional factors. Social trust and existing neighborhood safety were negatively associated with poor SRH, whereas the effect of social participation was not significant. Social trust was still negatively associated with poor SRH after adjusting for individual demographic factors and socioeconomic status (p = 0.001). In contrast, neighborhood safety and social participation did not reach significance after adjusting for compositional factors. Based on the results of this study, social trust was associated with health outcomes. Further study is needed to clarify the path linking regional trust in others to individual health outcomes in the Japanese population.
Highlights
In the field of social epidemiology, social capital is regarded as an important determinant of a population’s health [1]
Social trust and existing neighborhood safety were negatively associated with poor self-rated health (SRH), whereas the effect of social participation was not significant
Based on the results of this study, social trust was associated with health outcomes
Summary
In the field of social epidemiology, social capital is regarded as an important determinant of a population’s health [1]. In the public health field, researchers have frequently used the social capital definitions presented by the political scientist R. Social capital has been measured in empirical studies in terms of cognitive dimensions, such as trust and norms of reciprocity, and structural dimensions, such as participation in voluntary or civic organizations [3]. The relative-income hypothesis presumes that social capital plays an important role [5, 6]. A widely accepted theory on the pathway of the relative-income effect is that inequality disrupts community cohesion and resident’s social capital and, has a negative impact on the health of a community’s residents [7, 8]. Social capital might have a protective effect against deteriorating health among the population
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