IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v72y2011i8p1219-1227.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social capital and change in psychological health over time

Author

Listed:
  • Giordano, Giuseppe Nicola
  • Lindström, Martin

Abstract

The positive association between social capital and general health outcomes has been extensively researched over the past decade; however, studies investigating social capital and psychological health show less consistent results. Despite this, policy-makers worldwide still employ elements of social capital to promote and improve psychological health. This United Kingdom study investigates the association between changes in psychological health over time and three different individual-level proxies of social capital, measures of socio-economic status, social support and the confounders age and gender. All data are derived from the British Household Panel Survey data, with the same individuals (NÂ =Â 7994) providing responses from 2000-2007. The data were split according to baseline psychological health status ('Good' or 'Poor' psychological health - the dependent variable). Using Generalised Estimating Equations, two separate models were built to investigate the association between changes from baseline psychological health over time and considered variables. An autoregressive working correlation structure was employed to derive the true influence of explanatory variables on psychological health outcomes over time. We found that generalised trust was the only social capital variable to maintain a positive and highly significant association with psychological health in multivariable models. All measures of socioeconomic status and social support were rendered insignificant, bar one. We therefore argue that the breakdown of the traditional family unit (and subsequent reduction in family capital investment), along with psychosocial pathways, demonstrate plausible mechanisms by which a decrease in generalised trust could lead to an increasing trend of worse psychological health in youth over successive birth cohorts. Policy makers, while providing welfare solutions in response to breakdown in traditional family structure, must also consider perverse incentives they provide. If perceived as a viable lifestyle choice, welfare provision could inadvertently promote further decline of trust, at even greater cost to society.

Suggested Citation

  • Giordano, Giuseppe Nicola & Lindström, Martin, 2011. "Social capital and change in psychological health over time," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1219-1227, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:72:y:2011:i:8:p:1219-1227
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(11)00116-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Glass, R., 1999. "Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(8), pages 1187-1193.
    2. Almedom, Astier M., 2005. "Social capital and mental health: An interdisciplinary review of primary evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 943-964, September.
    3. Giordano, Giuseppe N. & Lindstrom, Martin, 2010. "The impact of changes in different aspects of social capital and material conditions on self-rated health over time: A longitudinal cohort study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 700-710, March.
    4. De Silva, Mary J & Harpham, Trudy & Tuan, Tran & Bartolini, Rosario & Penny, Mary E & Huttly, Sharon R, 2006. "Psychometric and cognitive validation of a social capital measurement tool in Peru and Vietnam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 941-953, February.
    5. Umberson, Debra, 1992. "Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 907-917, April.
    6. Lindström, Martin & Hanson, Bertil S. & Östergren, Per-Olof, 2001. "Socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity: the role of social participation and social capital in shaping health related behaviour," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 441-451, February.
    7. Pearce, N. & Davey Smith, G., 2003. "Is social capital the key to inequalities in health?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(1), pages 122-129.
    8. Hawe, Penelope & Shiell, Alan, 2000. "Social capital and health promotion: a review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 871-885, September.
    9. Richard V. Burkhauser & Timothy M. Smeeding & Joachim Merz, 1996. "Relative Inequality And Poverty In Germany And The United States Using Alternative Equivalence Scales," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 42(4), pages 381-400, December.
    10. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Lochner, K. & Prothrow-Stith, D., 1997. "Social capital, income inequality, and mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(9), pages 1491-1498.
    11. Wyke, Sally & Ford, Graeme, 1992. "Competing explanations for associations between marital status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 523-532, March.
    12. Poortinga, Wouter, 2006. "Social capital: An individual or collective resource for health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 292-302, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bilson, Jessica R. & Jetter, Michael & Kristoffersen, Ingebjørg, 2017. "Gender Differences in the Link between Income and Trust Levels: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," IZA Discussion Papers 10585, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Leyla Dinç & Fatoş Korkmaz & Erdem Karabulut, 2013. "A Validity and Reliability Study of the Multidimensional Trust in Health-Care Systems Scale in a Turkish Patient Population," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 107-120, August.
    3. Landstedt, Evelina & Almquist, Ylva B. & Eriksson, Malin & Hammarström, Anne, 2016. "Disentangling the directions of associations between structural social capital and mental health: Longitudinal analyses of gender, civic engagement and depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 135-143.
    4. Elisa Menardo & Marta Viola & Alice Bacherini & Luana Angelini & Roberto Cubelli & Giulia Balboni, 2023. "The Effects of the COVID-19-induced Lockdown on the Social Capital and Cultural Capital in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 585-606, August.
    5. Adjaye-Gbewonyo, Kafui & Kawachi, Ichiro & Subramanian, S.V. & Avendano, Mauricio, 2018. "High social trust associated with increased depressive symptoms in a longitudinal South African sample," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 127-135.
    6. Eriksson, Malin & Ng, Nawi, 2015. "Changes in access to structural social capital and its influence on self-rated health over time for middle-aged men and women: A longitudinal study from northern Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 250-258.
    7. Maria Pavlova & Rainer Silbereisen & Kamil Sijko, 2014. "Social Participation in Poland: Links to Emotional Well-Being and Risky Alcohol Consumption," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 29-44, May.
    8. Roychowdhury, Punarjit, 2021. "Too unwell to trust? The effect of mental health on social trust in Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    9. Rocco, Lorenzo, 2014. "Trust me, you will be in better health," MPRA Paper 91657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Naoki Akaeda, 2021. "Welfare States and the Health Impact of Social Capital: Focusing on the Crowding-Out and Crowding-In Perspectives," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 841-862, October.
    11. Lindström, Martin & Giordano, Giuseppe N., 2016. "The 2008 financial crisis: Changes in social capital and its association with psychological wellbeing in the United Kingdom – A panel study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 71-80.
    12. Maria Gabriella Melchiorre & Carlos Chiatti & Giovanni Lamura & Francisco Torres-Gonzales & Mindaugas Stankunas & Jutta Lindert & Elisabeth Ioannidi-Kapolou & Henrique Barros & Gloria Macassa & Joaqui, 2013. "Social Support, Socio-Economic Status, Health and Abuse among Older People in Seven European Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, January.
    13. Fiorillo, Damiano & Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe & Nappo, Nunzia, 2016. "Social participation and self-rated psychological health," MPRA Paper 72879, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Matthias Lühr & Maria K. Pavlova & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "Nonpolitical Versus Political Participation: Longitudinal Associations with Mental Health and Social Well-Being in Different Age Groups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 865-884, February.
    15. Aranda, Luis, 2015. "Doubling up: A gift or a shame? Intergenerational households and parental depression of older Europeans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 12-22.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giordano, Giuseppe N. & Lindstrom, Martin, 2010. "The impact of changes in different aspects of social capital and material conditions on self-rated health over time: A longitudinal cohort study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 700-710, March.
    2. Giordano, Giuseppe Nicola & Björk, Jonas & Lindström, Martin, 2012. "Social capital and self-rated health – A study of temporal (causal) relationships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 340-348.
    3. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Structural social capital and health in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 129-142.
    4. Engström, Karin & Mattsson, Fredrik & Järleborg, Anders & Hallqvist, Johan, 2008. "Contextual social capital as a risk factor for poor self-rated health: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2268-2280, June.
    5. Shiell, Alan & Hawe, Penelope & Kavanagh, Shane, 2020. "Evidence suggests a need to rethink social capital and social capital interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    6. Sirven, Nicolas, 2006. "Endogenous social capital and self-rated health: Cross-sectional data from rural areas of Madagascar," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1489-1502, September.
    7. Damiano Fiorillo, 2016. "Workers’ health and social relations in Italy," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(5), pages 835-862, October.
    8. Schultz, Jennifer & O'Brien, A. Maureen & Tadesse, Bedassa, 2008. "Social capital and self-rated health: Results from the US 2006 social capital survey of one community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 606-617, August.
    9. Takeshi Hamamura & Liman Man Wai Li & Derwin Chan, 2017. "The Association Between Generalized Trust and Physical and Psychological Health Across Societies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 277-286, October.
    10. Damiano Fiorillo & Nunzia Nappo, 2017. "Formal volunteering and self-perceived health. Causal evidence from the UK-SILC," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 75(2), pages 112-138, April.
    11. Quintal, Carlota & Ramos, Luís Moura & Torres, Pedro, 2023. "Disentangling the complexities of modelling when high social capital contributes to indicating good health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    12. Stavros Petrou & Emil Kupek, 2008. "Social capital and its relationship with measures of health status: evidence from the Health Survey for England 2003," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 127-143, January.
    13. Favara,Marta, 2012. "United we stand divided we fall : maternal social participation and children's nutritional status in Peru," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6264, The World Bank.
    14. Lindström, Martin, 2009. "Marital status, social capital, material conditions and self-rated health: A population-based study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(2-3), pages 172-179, December.
    15. Ball, Kylie & Cleland, Verity J. & Timperio, Anna F. & Salmon, Jo & Giles-Corti, Billie & Crawford, David A., 2010. "Love thy neighbour? Associations of social capital and crime with physical activity amongst women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 807-814, August.
    16. De Clercq, B. & Vyncke, V. & Hublet, A. & Elgar, F.J. & Ravens-Sieberer, U. & Currie, C. & Hooghe, M. & Ieven, A. & Maes, L., 2012. "Social capital and social inequality in adolescents’ health in 601 Flemish communities: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 202-210.
    17. Sheabo Dessalegn, S., 2017. "Social capital and maternal health care use in rural Ethiopia," Other publications TiSEM bb0ec225-4ec3-4028-90d6-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Phongsavan, Philayrath & Chey, Tien & Bauman, Adrian & Brooks, Robert & Silove, Derrick, 2006. "Social capital, socio-economic status and psychological distress among Australian adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2546-2561, November.
    19. Fiorillo, Damiano & Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe & Nappo, Nunzia, 2016. "Social participation and self-rated psychological health," MPRA Paper 72879, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Lindström, Martin & Giordano, Giuseppe N., 2016. "The 2008 financial crisis: Changes in social capital and its association with psychological wellbeing in the United Kingdom – A panel study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 71-80.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:72:y:2011:i:8:p:1219-1227. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.