J Epidemiol Community Health

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER
[Advanced]

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2006;60:116-122; doi:10.1136/jech.2005.038281
Copyright © 2006 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this link to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Add article to my folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kim, D
Right arrow Articles by Kawachi, I
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kim, D
Right arrow Articles by Kawachi, I
Topic Collections
Right arrowRelevant Article

RESEARCH REPORT

Bonding versus bridging social capital and their associations with self rated health: a multilevel analysis of 40 US communities

D Kim, S V Subramanian, I Kawachi

Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr D Kim
Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02446, USA; dkim{at}hsph.harvard.edu

Study objective: Few studies have distinguished between the effects of different forms of social capital on health. This study distinguished between the health effects of summary measures tapping into the constructs of community bonding and community bridging social capital.

Design: A multilevel logistic regression analysis of community bonding and community bridging social capital in relation to individual self rated fair/poor health.

Setting: 40 US communities.

Participants: Within community samples of adults (n = 24 835), surveyed by telephone in 2000–2001.

Main results: Adjusting for community sociodemographic and socioeconomic composition and community level income and age, the odds ratio of reporting fair or poor health was lower for each 1-standard deviation (SD) higher community bonding social capital (OR = 0.86; 95% = 0.80 to 0.92) and each 1-SD higher community bridging social capital (OR = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.88 to 1.02). The addition of indicators for individual level bonding and bridging social capital and social trust slightly attenuated the associations for community bonding social capital (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84 to 0.97) and community bridging social capital (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.89 to 1.03). Individual level high formal bonding social capital, trust in members of one’s race/ethnicity, and generalised social trust were each significantly and inversely related to fair/poor health. Furthermore, significant cross level interactions of community social capital with individual race/ethnicity were seen, including weaker inverse associations between community bonding social capital and fair/poor health among black persons compared with white persons.

Conclusions: These results suggest modest protective effects of community bonding and community bridging social capital on health. Interventions and policies that leverage community bonding and bridging social capital might serve as means of population health improvement.


Keywords: social capital; bonding social capital; bridging social capital; self rated health; multilevel analysis


Relevant Article

In this issue
Carlos Alvarez-Dardet and John R Ashton
J Epidemiol Community Health 2006 60: 89. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Epidemiol RevHome page
D. Kim
Blues from the Neighborhood? Neighborhood Characteristics and Depression
Epidemiol. Rev., November 1, 2008; 30(1): 101 - 117.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Int J EpidemiolHome page
C. van Hooijdonk, M. Droomers, I. M Deerenberg, J. P Mackenbach, and A. E Kunst
The diversity in associations between community social capital and health per health outcome, population group and location studied
Int. J. Epidemiol., September 9, 2008; (2008) dyn181v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
J C Sapag, M Aracena, L Villarroel, F Poblete, C Berrocal, R Hoyos, M Martinez, and I Kawachi
Social capital and self-rated health in urban low income neighbourhoods in Chile
J Epidemiol Community Health, September 1, 2008; 62(9): 790 - 792.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
T Abel
Cultural capital and social inequality in health.
J Epidemiol Community Health, July 1, 2008; 62(7): e13 - e13.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Acta SociologicaHome page
S. Ferlander
The Importance of Different Forms of Social Capital for Health
Acta Sociologica, June 1, 2007; 50(2): 115 - 128.
[Abstract] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER
Terms and conditions relating to subscriptions purchased online  ¦  Website terms and conditions  ¦  Privacy policy
Copyright © 2006 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.