The role of community social capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and adolescent life satisfaction: mediating or moderating? Evidence from Czech data

International Journal for Equity in Health

Research

Vladimir Kebza¹  Caroline Costongs²  Ferdinand Salonna³  Candace Currie⁴  Bart De Clercq⁵  Lea Maes⁵  Thomas Buijs⁵  Joris Van Damme⁵  Anne Hublet⁵ 

[1] Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Ovocný trh 3-5, 116 36, Praha 1, Czech Republic;EuroHealthNet, 67 rue de la Loi B-1040, Brussels, Belgium;Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University in Olomouc, Tr. Miru 15, 77111, Olomouc, Czech Republic;School of Medicine, Medical & Biological Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, KY16 9TF, St Andrews, UK;Unit Health Promotion, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium;

关键词: Health inequalities;    Social capital;    Life satisfaction;    Youth;    Czech Republic;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12939-016-0490-x

 received in 2016-01-11, accepted in 2016-12-01,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe concept of social capital has been extensively used to explain the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescent health and well-being. Much less is known about the specific mechanism through which social capital impacts the relationship. This paper investigates whether an individual’s perception of community social capital moderates or mediates the association between SES and life satisfaction.MethodsThis study employs cross-sectional data from the 2009–2010 Czech Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey: a WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study (HBSC). A sample of 4425 adolescents from the 5th, 7th and 9th grade (94.5% school response rate, 87% student response) was used to perform multilevel analysis.ResultsWe found that pupils’ life satisfaction was positively related to both family affluence and perceived wealth. Moreover, we found the cognitive component of social capital to be positively associated with life satisfaction. Additionally, a significant interaction was found, such that the social gradient in life satisfaction was flattened when pupils reported high levels of perceived community social capital.ConclusionsThe present findings suggest that community social capital acts as an unequal health resource for adolescents, but could potentially represent opportunities for public health policy to close the gap in socioeconomic disparities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016