IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v104y2014icp148-156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of social capital in African–American women's use of mammography

Author

Listed:
  • Dean, Lorraine
  • Subramanian, S.V.
  • Williams, David R.
  • Armstrong, Katrina
  • Charles, Camille Zubrinsky
  • Kawachi, Ichiro

Abstract

Black/African–American women are more likely to get breast cancer at a young age and/or be diagnosed at a late disease stage, pointing to a greater need to promote mammography for Black women at earlier ages than are currently recommended. This study explores how perceived neighborhood social capital, that is, perceptions of how tight-knit a neighborhood is and what power that confers to neighborhood members, relates to use of mammography for Black women in Philadelphia. Living in a community with tight social ties (social cohesion) or that have a collective motivation for community change (collective efficacy) may increase the likelihood that an individual woman in that community will hear health messages from other community members and neighbors (diffusion of information) and will have access to health-related resources that allow them to engage in healthy behaviors. No prior studies have explored the role of social capital in decisions for mammography use. Using multilevel logistic regression, we analyzed self-report of mammography in the past year for 2586, Black women over age 40 across 381 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA census tracts. Our study included individual demographic and aggregates of individual-level social capital data from the Public Health Management Corporation's 2004, 2006, and 2008 Community Health Database waves, and 2000 US Census sociodemographic characteristics. Individual perceptions that a Black woman's neighborhood had high social capital, specifically collective efficacy, had a positive and statistically significant association with mammography use (OR = 1.40, CI: 1.05, 1.85). Our findings suggest that an individual woman's perception of greater neighborhood social capital may be related to increased mammography use. Although this analysis could not determine the direction of causality, it suggests that social capital may play a role in cancer preventive screening for African–American women in Philadelphia, which warrants further study.

Suggested Citation

  • Dean, Lorraine & Subramanian, S.V. & Williams, David R. & Armstrong, Katrina & Charles, Camille Zubrinsky & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2014. "The role of social capital in African–American women's use of mammography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 148-156.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:104:y:2014:i:c:p:148-156
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.11.057
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613006801
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.11.057?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Lee, S. & Brown, E.R. & Grant, D. & Belin, T.R. & Brick, J.M., 2009. "Exploring nonresponse bias in a health survey using neighborhood characteristics," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(10), pages 1811-1817.
    2. Merkin, S.S. & Stevenson, L. & Powe, N., 2002. "Geographic socioeconomic status, race, and advanced-stage breast cancer in New York City," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(1), pages 64-70.
    3. 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.
    4. Anderson, L.M. & May, D.S., 1995. "Has the use of cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer screening increased in the United States?," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(6), pages 840-842.
    5. Calle, E.E. & Flanders, W.D. & Thun, M.J. & Martin, L.M., 1993. "Demographic predictors of mammography and Pap smear screening in US women," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 83(1), pages 53-60.
    6. Gee, G.C., 2002. "A multilevel analysis of the relationship between institutional and individual racial discrimination and health status," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(4), pages 615-623.
    7. Michielutte, Robert & Diseker, Robert A., 1982. "Racial differences in knowledge of cancer: A pilot study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 245-252, 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. Joseph Gibbons, 2021. "Distancing the socially distanced: Racial/ethnic composition’s association with physical distancing in response to COVID-19 in the U.S," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Dean, Lorraine T. & Hillier, Amy & Chau-Glendinning, Hang & Subramanian, S.V. & Williams, David R. & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2015. "Can you party your way to better health? A propensity score analysis of block parties and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 201-209.

    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. Wen, Ming & Cagney, Kathleen A. & Christakis, Nicholas A., 2005. "Effect of specific aspects of community social environment on the mortality of Individuals diagnosed with serious illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1119-1134, September.
    2. Borrell, Luisa N. & Kiefe, Catarina I. & Williams, David R. & Diez-Roux, Ana V. & Gordon-Larsen, Penny, 2006. "Self-reported health, perceived racial discrimination, and skin color in African Americans in the CARDIA study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1415-1427, September.
    3. Franzini, Luisa & Caughy, Margaret & Spears, William & Eugenia Fernandez Esquer, Maria, 2005. "Neighborhood economic conditions, social processes, and self-rated health in low-income neighborhoods in Texas: A multilevel latent variables model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1135-1150, September.
    4. Liat Ayalon, 2018. "Perceived Age Discrimination: A Precipitator or a Consequence of Depressive Symptoms?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(5), pages 860-869.
    5. Kumar, Kaushalendra & Shukla, Ankita & Singh, Abhishek & Ram, Faujdar & Kowal, Paul, 2016. "Association between wealth and health among older adults in rural China and India," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 43-52.
    6. Johnston, David W. & Lordan, Grace, 2012. "Discrimination makes me sick! An examination of the discrimination–health relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 99-111.
    7. Hanibuchi, Tomoya & Murata, Yohei & Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kawachi, Ichiro & Kondo, Katsunori, 2012. "Place-specific constructs of social capital and their possible associations to health: A Japanese case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 225-232.
    8. McNeill, Lorna Haughton & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Subramanian, S.V., 2006. "Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 1011-1022, August.
    9. Melissa P L Chan & Robert S Weinhold & Reuben Thomas & Julia M Gohlke & Christopher J Portier, 2015. "Environmental Predictors of US County Mortality Patterns on a National Basis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "The Effect of Primary School Education on Preventive Behaviours during COVID-19 in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-12, May.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Pabayo, Roman & Belsky, Jay & Gauvin, Lise & Curtis, Sarah, 2011. "Do area characteristics predict change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from ages 11 to 15 years?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 430-438, February.
    14. Jyh-Jeng Wu & Yueh-Mei Chen & Paul C. Talley & Kuang-Ming Kuo, 2021. "Does Online Community Participation Contribute to Medication Adherence? An Empirical Study of Patients with Chronic Diseases," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-16, May.
    15. Fabrice Murtin & Federica Marzo, 2007. "HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa: a Bayesian Estimation," Cahiers de recherche 07-08, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    16. infocede, 2001. "Desnutrición infantil en Colombia: inequidades y determinantes," Documentos CEDE 20100, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    17. 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.
    18. Wight, Richard G. & Cummings, Janet R. & Miller-Martinez, Dana & Karlamangla, Arun S. & Seeman, Teresa E. & Aneshensel, Carol S., 2008. "A multilevel analysis of urban neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and health in late life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 862-872, February.
    19. Cheney, Ann M. & Newkirk, Christine & Rodriguez, Katheryn & Montez, Anselmo, 2018. "Inequality and health among foreign-born latinos in rural borderland communities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 115-122.
    20. Zhenhua Zheng & Hong Chen & Liu Yang, 2019. "Transfer of Promotion Effects on Elderly Health with Age: From Physical Environment to Interpersonal Environment and Social Participation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-15, August.

    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:104:y:2014:i:c:p:148-156. 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.