Abstract
BackgroundWhereas the majority of previous research on social capital and health has been on residential neighborhoods and communities, the evidence remains sparse on workplace social capital. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the association between workplace social capital and health status among Chinese employees in a large, multi-level, cross-sectional study.MethodsBy employing a two-stage stratified random sampling procedure, 2,796 employees were identified from 35 workplaces in Shanghai during March to November 2012. Workplace social capital was assessed using a validated and psychometrically tested eight-item measure, and the Chinese language version of the WHO-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) was used to assess mental health. Control variables included sex, age, marital status, education level, occupation status, smoking status, physical activity, and job stress. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore whether individual- and workplace-level social capital was associated with mental health status.ResultsIn total, 34.9% of workers reported poor mental health (WHO-5<13). After controlling for individual-level socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, compared to workers with the highest quartile of personal social capital, workers with the third, second, and lowest quartiles exhibited 1.39 to 3.54 times greater odds of poor mental health, 1.39 (95% CI: 1.10–1.75), 1.85 (95% CI: 1.38–2.46) and 3.54 (95% CI: 2.73–4.59), respectively. Corresponding odds ratios for workplace-level social capital were 0.95 (95% CI: 0.61–1.49), 1.14 (95% CI: 0.72–1.81) and 1.63 (95% CI: 1.05–2.53) for the third, second, and lowest quartiles, respectively.ConclusionsHigher workplace social capital is associated with lower odds of poor mental health among Chinese employees. Promoting social capital at the workplace may contribute to enhancing employees’ mental health in China.
Highlights
Social capital is defined as those features of social organization, such as levels of interpersonal trust and the norms of mutual aid and reciprocity, which act as resources for individuals and facilitate collective action [1,2,3]
Group social capital was associated with mental health in Japan [9] but not in a similar study conducted in the USA [13]
Mental health significantly varied among participants with different individual-level social capital (p,0.001): Rates of poor mental health declined in conjunction with greater individual perceptions of social capital
Summary
Social capital is defined as those features of social organization, such as levels of interpersonal trust and the norms of mutual aid and reciprocity, which act as resources for individuals and facilitate collective action [1,2,3]. There remains controversy whether the benefits of social capital accrue to individuals or groups [4], ecological studies have found associations between social capital and health. Some previous community studies have found empirical support for a positive relationship between social capital and mental health, but this association has not been consistently found across studies [11,12]. Whereas the majority of previous research on social capital and health has been on residential neighborhoods and communities, the evidence remains sparse on workplace social capital. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the association between workplace social capital and health status among Chinese employees in a large, multilevel, cross-sectional study
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