Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cultural Capital and Self-Rated Health in Low Income Women: Evidence from the Urban Health Study, Beirut, Lebanon

  • Published:
Journal of Urban Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examines the association between cultural capital and self-rated psychosocial health among poor, ever-married Lebanese women living in an urban context. Both self-rated general and mental health status were assessed using data from a cross-sectional survey of 1,869 women conducted in 2003. Associations between self-rated general and mental health status and cultural capital were obtained using χ 2 tests and odds ratios from binary logistic regression models. Cultural capital had significant associations with self-perceived general and mental health status net of the effects of social capital, SES, demographics, community and health risk factors. For example, the odds ratios for poor general and mental health associated with low cultural capital were 4.5 (CI: 2.95–6.95) and 2.9 (CI: 2.09–4.05), respectively, as compared to participants with high cultural capital. As expected, health risk factors were significantly associated with both measures of health status. However, demographic and community variables were associated with general health but not with mental health status. The findings pertaining to social capital and measures of SES were mixed. Cultural capital was a powerful and significant predictor of self-perceived general and mental health among women living in poor urban communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Blakely TA, Lochner K, Kawachi I. Metropolitan area income inequality and self-rated health—a multilevel study. Soc Sci Med. 2002;54:65–77.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Kawachi I, Kennedy B. The relationship between income inequality to mortality: does the choice of indicator matter? Soc Sci Med. 1997;45:1121–1127.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Santana P. Poverty, social exclusion and health in Portugal. Soc Sci Med. 2002;55:33–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. van Doorslaer E, Gerdtham U-G. Does inequality in self-assessed health predict inequality in survival by income? Evidence from Swedish Data. Soc Sci Med. 2003;57:1621–1629.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Edmondson R. Social capital: a strategy for enhancing health? Soc Sci Med. 2003;57:1723–1733.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Gilbert L, Soskolne V. Self-assessed health—a case study of social differentials in Soweto, South Africa. Health Place. 2003;9:193–205.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Hyyppa MT, Maki J. Individual-level relationships between social capital and self-rated health in a bilingual community. Prev Med. 2001;32:148–155.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kawachi I. Social capital and self-rated health: a contextual analysis. Am J Public Health. 1999;89(8):1187–1193.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rose R. How much does social capital add to individual health? A survey study of Russians. Soc Sci Med. 2000;51:1421–1435.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wilkinson, RG. Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. Routledge: London; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Berkman LF, Melchior M, Chastang JF, Niedhammer I, Leclerc A, Goldberg M. Social integration and mortality: a prospective study of French employees of electricity of France-Gas of France: the GAZEL Cohort. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159:167–174.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kristenson M, Orth-Gomer K, Kucinskiene Z, et al. Attenuted cortisol response to a standardized stress test in Lithuanian versus Swedish men: the LiVicordia Study. Int J Behav Med. 1998;5:17–30.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Shively CA, Laber-Laird K, Anton RF. Behavior and physiology of social stress and depression in female cynomolgus monkeys. Biol Psychiatry. 1997;41:871–882.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bourdieu P, Pearson JC. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London: Sage, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Bourdieu P, Pearson JC. The Inheritors, French Students and Their Relations to Culture. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bourdieu P. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Swartz D. Drawing inspiration from Bourdieu's sociology of symbolic power. Theory Soc. 2003;32:519–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. DiMaggio P. Cultural capital and school success. Am Sociol Rev. 1982;47:189–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. DiMaggio P, Mohr J. Cultural capital, educational attainment and marital selection. AJS. 1985;90:1231–1261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fyfe G. Reproductions, cultural capital and museums: aspects of the culture of copies. Museum Society. 2004;2:47–67.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Bourdieu P. The market of symbolic goods. Poetics. 1985;14:13–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Pellerin LA, Sterns E. Status honor and the valuing of cultural and material capital. Poetics. 2001;29:1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bygren LO, Konlaan BB, Johansson SE. Attendance at cultural events, reading books or periodicals, and making music or singing in a choir as determinants for survival: Swedish interview survey of living conditions. BMJ. 1996;313:1577–1580.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Glass TA, de Leon CM, Marottoli RA, Berkman LF. Population based study of social and productive activities as predictors of survival among elderly Americans. BMJ. 1999;319:478–483.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Konlaan BB, Bygren LO, Johansson SE. Visiting the cinema, concerts, museums or art exhibitions as determinant of survival: a Swedish fourteen-year cohort follow-up. Scand J Public Health. 2000;28:174–178.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Konlaan BB, Theobald H, Bygren LO. Leisure time activity as a determinant of survival: a 26-year follow-up of a Swedish cohort. Public Health. 2002;115:227–230.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Johansson SE, Konlaan BB, Bygren LO. Sustaining habits of attending cultural events and maintenance of health: a longitudinal study. Health Promot Int. 2001;16:229–234.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Konlaan BB, Bjorby N, Bygren LO, Weissglas G, Karlsson LG, Widmark M. Attendance at cultural events and physical exercise and health: a randomized controlled study. Public Health. 2000;114:316–319.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. El-Rufaie OF, Daradkeh TK. Validation of the Arabic versions of the thirty- and twelve-item general health questionnaire. British J Psych. 1996;169:662–664.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Goldberg D, Williams P. A User's Guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: Nefer-Nelson Publishing, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Harrison J, Barrow S, Gask L, Creed F. Social determinants of GHQ score by postal survey. J Public Health Med. 1999;21:283–288.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Coleman J. Social capital in the creation of human capital. AJS. 1988;94:S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Bourdieu P. The forms of capital. In: Richardson J, ed. Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Putnam R. Making Democracy Work: Civic Tradition in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Buhmann B, Rainwater L, Schmaus G, et al. Equivalence scales, well-being, inequality, and poverty: sensitivity estimates across ten countries using the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) database. Rev Income Wealth. 1988;34:115–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Stata 8.2 for Windows. College Station, Texas: Stata Corporation, 2003.

  37. Galea S, Vlahov D. Urban health: evidence, challenges, and directions. Annu Rev Public Health. 2005;26:341–365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Barnett E, Casper M. A definition of “social environment.” Am J Public Health. 2001;91:465.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Hamilton J, Hinks S, Petticrew M. Arts for health: still searching for the Holy Grail. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003;57:401–406.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Rider MS, Weldin C. Imagery, improvisation, and immunity. Arts Psychother. 1990;17:211–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Schimmack U, Oishi S, Diener E, Eunkook S. Facets of affective experiences: a framework for investigations of trait affect. Pers Soc Psychol B. 2000;26:655–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Stewart-Brown S. Emotional well-being and its relation to health. BMJ. 1998;317:1608–1609.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Watkins AD. Perceptions, emotions and immunity: an integrated homeostatic network. Q J Med. 1995;88:283–294.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Ader R, Cohen N, Felsten D. Psychoneuroimmunology: interactions between the nervous system and immune system. Lancet. 1995;345:99–103.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Harbuz MS, Conde GL, Marti O, Lightman SL, Jessop DS. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in autoimmunity. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1997;823:214–224.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Mater S, Watkins L. Cytokines for psychologists: implications of biodirectional immune-to-brain communications for understanding behavior, mood, cognition. Psychol Rev. 1998;105:83–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Nuetzel EJ. Unconscious phenomena in the process of theater: preliminary hypotheses. Psychoanal Q. 1995;64:345–352.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Pert CB, Dreher HE, Ruff MR. The psychosomatic network: foundations of mind–body medicine. Altern Ther Health Med. 1998;4:30–41.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Bojner-Horwitz E, Theorell T, Anderberg UM. Dance/movement therapy and changes in stress-related hormones: a study of fibromyalgia patients with video-interpretation. Arts Psychother. 2003;30:255–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Spencer MJ. Live Arts Experiences: Their Impact on Health and Wellness. A Work in Progress. New York: Hospital Audiences; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Wickstrom BM, Theorell T, Sandstrom S. Medical health and emotional effects of art stimulation in old age. Psychother Psychosom. 1993;60:195–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Gartell AC, Popay J, Thomas C. Mapping the determinants of health inequalities in social space: can Bourdieu help us? Health Place. 2004;10:245–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Katsillis J, Robinson R. Cultural capital, student achievement and educational reproduction: the case of Greece. Am Sociol Rev. 1990;52:270–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Kaufman J, Gabler J. Cultural capital and the extracurricular activities of boys and girls in the college attainment process. Poetics. 2004;32:145–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Sullivan A. Cultural capital and educational attainment. Sociology. 2002;35:893–912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Pettit P. Cultural capital and residential mobility: A model of impersistence in place. Poetics. 1999;26:177–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Frederking LC. Is there an endogenous relationship between culture and economic development? J Econ Behav Organ. 2002;48:105–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Wilkinson RG. Health inequalities: relative or absolute standards? BMJ. 1997;314:591–595.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Shively CA, Clarkson TB. Social status and coronary artery atherosclerosis in female monkeys. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis. 1994;14:721–726.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Jepperson RL, Swidler A. What properties of culture should we measure? Poetics. 1994;22:359–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Marsden PV, Swingle JF. Conceptualizing and measuring culture in surveys: values, strategies, and symbols. Poetics. 1994;22:269–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Bourdieu P, Wacquant LJD. An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was part of a larger multi-disciplinary research project on urban health sponsored by the Center for Research on Population and Health at the American University of Beirut and supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust, the Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Box: 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon

    Marwan Khawaja

Authors
  1. Marwan Khawaja
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mona Mowafi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marwan Khawaja.

Additional information

Khawaja and Mowafi are with the Center for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Box: 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Khawaja, M., Mowafi, M. Cultural Capital and Self-Rated Health in Low Income Women: Evidence from the Urban Health Study, Beirut, Lebanon. JURH 83, 444–458 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-006-9051-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-006-9051-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation