Social capital and health in Australia: An overview from the household, income and labour dynamics in Australia survey☆
Section snippets
Aims of the current study
Using a nationally representative dataset and controlling for a range of socio-demographic factors, the aims of this study were to (i) examine patterns in frequency and enjoyment of community participation, and in social cohesion, (ii) produce population norms for community participation, (iii) examine the relationship between components of structural and cognitive social capital and three aspects of health – mental health, general health and physical functioning and (iv), controlling for
The HILDA survey
Data for this study were taken from Wave 6 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey (Watson and Wooden, 2006, Wooden et al., 2002). The HILDA Survey is a nationally representative panel survey of Australian adults aged 15 years and over in which participants report a large range of health and socioeconomic information. Data are collected annually and, in each wave, respondents complete four separate survey questionnaires. One of these is a self-complete
Results
Table 2 presents Australian population norms for the community participation items adapted from the ACPQ, and for the participation items that appear in each wave of the HILDA Survey. Keeping in touch with family and friends were the most common forms of participation, while religious observance and political types of participation were the least common. One-way analyses of variance indicated that women reported higher levels of informal social connectedness and civic engagement than did men;
Discussion
The aims of this study were to describe community participation in Australia and its associations with social cohesion, to test the relationship between social capital and three forms of health, and to examine the independent contributions of structural and cognitive components of mental health controlling for physical health. Consistent with previous research (Baum et al., 2000, Berry, 2008a), there was strong evidence of sex differences, with women reporting consistently higher levels of
Conclusion
This study examined the relationship between the structural and cognitive components of social capital and their shared relationship with three forms of health in a large, nationally representative Australian sample. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, our findings demonstrated that both structural and cognitive aspects of social capital are strongly linked to each other and to all three forms of health. The relationship between social capital and mental health was the strongest,
References (63)
Social capital and mental health: an interdisciplinary review of primary evidence
Social Science & Medicine
(2005)- et al.
Preliminary development and validation of an Australian community participation questionnaire: types of participation and associations with distress in a coastal community
Social Science & Medicine
(2007) - et al.
When being alone might be better: neighborhood poverty, social capital, and child mental health
Social Science & Medicine
(2003) - et al.
Is social participation associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors?
Social Science & Medicine
(2007) - et al.
Social relationships and health: the meaning of social “connectedness” and how it relates to health concerns for rural Scottish adolescents
Journal of Adolescence
(2000) - et al.
U.S state-level social capital and health related quality of life: multilevel evidence of main, mediating, and modifying effects
Annals of Epidemiology
(2007) Social capital, anticipated ethnic discrimination and self-reported psychological health: a population-based study
Social Science & Medicine
(2008)- et al.
Social capital, political trust and self-reported psychological health: a population-based study
Social Science & Medicine
(2009) - et al.
Social capital and neighborhood mortality rates in Chicago
Social Science & Medicine
(2003) - et al.
Social capital, income inequality, and self-rated health in 45 countries
Social Science & Medicine
(2008)
Measuring dimensions of social capital: evidence from surveys in poor communities in Nicaragua
Social Science & Medicine
Not all social capital is good capital
Health and Place
Neighborhood differences in social capital: a compositional artifact or a contextual construct?
Health and Place
Social capital and economic development in regional Australia: a case study
Journal of Rural Studies
Social capital and health in rural and urban communities in South Australia
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
Agriculture Australia 1997–98
Epidemiology of participation: an Australian community study
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
The burden of disease and injury in Australia 2003
Social capital elite, excluded participators, busy working parents and aging, participating less: types of community participators and their mental health
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Subjective perceptions about sufficiency and enjoyment of community participation and associations with mental health
Australasian Epidemiologist
Social capital and mental health among Indigenous Australians, New Australians and other Australians living in a coastal region
Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health
Measuring social capital at the individual level: personal social capital, values and psychological distress
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion
Trust and distress in three generations of rural Australians
Australasian Psychiatry
Longing to belong: Personal social capital and psychological distress in a coastal Australian region
No association of neighbourhood volunteerism with mortality in New Zealand: a national multilevel cohort study
International Journal of Epidemiology
Interpersonal support evaluation list
Mental health problems among single and partnered mothers
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
The Organizational Trust Inventory (OTI): development and validation
Social capital and mental illness: a systematic review
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Developing and using social capital in public mental health
The Mental Health Review
Social capital: a conceptual history
Political Theory
Cited by (180)
Vulnerability and recovery: Long-term mental and physical health trajectories following climate-related disasters
2023, Social Science and MedicineRelationship between proximity and physiological stress levels in hunter-gatherers: The Hadza
2023, Hormones and BehaviorThe Household Multidimensional Poverty Reduction Effects of Digital Financial Inclusion: A Financial Environment Perspective
2024, Social Indicators ResearchLife after Foster Care: The Importance of Human and Social Capital for Post-Emancipation Outcomes
2024, Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal
- ☆
This study was funded under Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Social Policy Research Grant #FACS2532, project FCH 2007/03a.