Social determinants of psychological distress in a nationally-representative sample of South African adults

There is substantial evidence from developed countries that lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with increased occurrence of mental illness, and growing interest in the role of social support and social capital in mental health. However, there are few data on social determinants of mental health from low- and middle-income nations. We examined the association between psychological distress and SES, social support and bonding social capital in a nationally-representative sample of South African adults. As part of a national survey of mental health, a probability sample of 4,351 individuals was interviewed between 2002 and 2004. Non-specific psychological distress was measured using the Kessler K-10 scale. SES was assessed from an aggregate of household income, individual educational and employment status, and household material and financial resources. Social support, bonding social capital and traumatic life events were measured using multi-item scales. The mean age in the sample was 37 years and 76% of participants were black African. Measures of SES and social capital were inversely associated (p<0.001). Both recent and traumatic life events were more common among individuals with low levels of SES and social support. After adjusting for participant demographic characteristics and life events, high levels of psychological distress were most common among individuals with lower levels of SES and social capital. There was no independent association between levels of social support and psychological distress. The occurrence of recent life events appeared to partially mediate the association between SES and psychological distress (p=0.035) but not the association involving social capital (p=0.40). These data demonstrate persistent associations between levels of SES, social capital and psychological distress in South Africa. The increased frequency of recent life events appears to only partially explain higher levels of psychological distress among individuals of lower SES. Additional research is required to understand the temporality of this association as well as mechanisms through which SES and social capital influence mental health in low- and middle-income settings where high levels of poverty and trauma may contribute to excess burden of mental illness.     

Perceptions of social capital and the built environment and mental health

There has been much speculation about a possible association between the social and built environment and health, but the empirical evidence is still elusive. The social and built environments are best seen as contextual concepts but they are usually estimated as an aggregation of individual compositional measures, such as perceptions on trust or the desirability to live in an area. If these aggregated compositional measures were valid measures, one would expect that they would evince correlations at higher levels of data collection (e.g., neighbourhood). The aims of this paper are: (1) to investigate the factor structure of a self-administered questionnaire measuring individual perceptions of trust, social participation, social cohesion, social control, and the built environment; (2) to investigate variation in these factors at higher than the individual level (households and postcodes) in order to assess if these constructs reflect some contextual effect; and (3) to study the association between mental health, as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), and these derived factors. A cross-sectional household survey was undertaken during May-August 2001 in a district of South Wales with a population of 140,000. We found that factor analysis grouped our questions in factors similar to the theoretical ones we had previously envisaged. We also found that approximately one-third of the variance for neighbourhood quality and 10% for social control was explained at postcode (neighbourhood) level after adjusting for individual variables, thus suggesting that some of our compositional measures capture contextual characteristics of the built and social environment. After adjusting for individual variables, trust and social cohesion, two key social capital components were the only factors to show statistically significant associations with GHQ-12 scores. However, these factors also showed little variation at postcode levels, suggesting a stronger individual determination. We conclude that our results provide some evidence in support of an association between mental health (GHQ-12 scores) and perceptions of social capital, but less support for the contextual nature of social capital.     

Social capital and health: a meta-analysis

The relationship between social capital and health has received extensive attention in fields such as public health, medicine, epidemiology, gerontology and other health-related disciplines. In contrast, the economics literature on this subject is relatively small. To address this research gap, we investigate the cross-disciplinary empirical literature using meta-analysis. We analyze 12,778 estimates from 470 studies. Our analysis finds that social capital is significantly related to a variety of positive health outcomes. However, the effect sizes are consistently very small. This finding is robust across different types of social capital (e.g., cognitive, structural, bonding, bridging, linking), and for many different measures of health outcomes (e.g., mortality, disease/illnesses, depression). The small effects that we estimate cast doubt on recent initiatives to promote health through social capital such as those by the WHO, the OECD, and US Healthy People 2020.     

Trans-local ties, local ties and psychological well-being among rural-to-urban migrants in Shanghai

During the past three decades, an estimated 200 million rural residents have moved to urban centers in China. They are "sojourners" in the cities and maintain close ties with their home communities, which we term trans-local ties. This paper examines the relationship between migrants' social ties and their mental health, and contrasts the trans-local ties with migrants' ties in the receiving communities, which are termed local ties. We expect that for the migrants, trans-local ties foster better mental health not only through providing emotional support but also through generating favorable social comparisons; whereas local ties may furnish important social support, but may also produce negative social comparisons. We use data collected in Shanghai to test our expectations. We compare the migrants to a sample of Shanghai natives to assess patterns of relationship between social ties and mental health that are unique to the migrants. We find that for the migrants, more numerous trans-local ties are associated with better mental health, whereas the number of local ties is not a significant predictor. This pattern is not observed among the Shanghai natives. Moreover, for migrants, trans-local ties foster a favorable evaluation of their status in Shanghai and buffer their perception of discrimination; in contrast, more numerous local ties tend to be associated with a more negative perception of social status. The findings highlight an often-overlooked pathway between social ties and health outcomes, namely, through influencing social comparison and perceived social status. This study also suggests that in addition to reducing institutional and personal discrimination, facilitating close bonds between the migrants and their home communities may be a productive way to foster their well-being, in the context of contemporary urban China.     

Social capital and mental health: a comparative analysis of four low income countries

Women and the poor are disproportionately affected by common mental disorders (CMD), and women in low income countries are particularly at risk. Social capital may explain some of the geographical variation in CMD, but the association between social capital and CMD in low income countries has rarely been studied. This paper aims to explore the relationship between individual and ecological measures of social capital and maternal CMD in four low income countries. Cross-sectional data from the Young Lives (YL) study with information across 234 communities in Peru, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Andhra Pradesh (India) were used. The mental health of mothers of one-year-old children (n=6909), and the individual cognitive and structural social capital of all respondents was assessed. Ecological social capital was calculated by aggregating individual responses to the community level. Multi-level modelling was used to explore the association between individual and ecological (community level) social capital and maternal CMD in each of the four countries, adjusting for a wide range of individual and community level confounders. The analysis shows that individual cognitive social capital is associated with reduced odds of CMD across all four countries. The results for structural social capital are more mixed and culturally specific, with some aspects associated with increased odds of CMD. This suggests that structural social capital has context-specific effects and cognitive social capital more universal effects on maternal CMD.     

Assessing the association between mental health and disability indicators among adults living in the United States

Background

Over 40 million people in the U.S. experience mental illness and/or disabilities. However, there has been limited characterization of the relationship between mental health and disability in national surveys.

社区高血压患者社会资本与心理健康的关系

目的评价社会资本量表的信度和效度,分析社区高血压患者社会资本与心理健康的关系。方法采用多阶段整群随机抽样的方法,对上海市某区高血压患者经知情同意进行问卷调查。其中社会资本量表是在相关理论和研究基础上,通过多次专家咨询,对量表的条目进行设计和修改而成,应用Cronbach’s α系数、评分者信度及探索性因子分析对其信度和效度进行评价;世界卫生组织5项心理健康量表用于测评患者心理健康状况。采用多因素非条件logistic回归分析高血压患者社会资本与心理健康状况的关系。结果社会资本量表的Cronbach’s α系数为0．628,量表各维度Cronbach’s α系数为0．507～0．793。评分者信度P值为0．001-0．715。各维度得分与量表总得分相关系数为0．500～0．928。因子分析的KMO值为0．706,提取了3个公因子,共解释了60．99％的方差变异。在控制其他可能的影响因素后,社区高血压患者信任参与程度和心理健康状况呈正相关（OR=1．740,P〈O．01）。结论社会资本量表有较好的信度、效度,社会资本是社区高血压患者心理健康的重要影响因素,尤其是提高患者社区活动参与意识和社区信任感对改善高血压患者心理健康有着积极的促进作用。     

Social capital and health in Australia: An overview from the household,income and labour dynamics in Australia survey

Social capital is associated with better health, but components of social capital and their associations with different types of health are rarely explored together. The aim of this study was to use nationally representative data to develop population norms of community participation and explore the relationships between structural and cognitive components of social capital with three forms of health – general health, mental health and physical functioning. Data were taken from Wave 6 (2006) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Using individual-level data, the structural component of social capital (community participation) was measured using a twelve-item short-form of the Australian Community Participation Questionnaire, and the cognitive component (social cohesion) by sense of belonging, tangible support, trust and reciprocity. Three subscales of the SF-36 provided measures of health. Multiple hierarchical regression modelling was used to investigate multivariate relationships among these factors. Higher levels of participation were related to higher levels of social cohesion and to all three forms of (better) health, particularly strongly to mental health. These findings could not be accounted for by sex, age, Indigenous status, education, responsibility for dependents, paid work, living alone or poverty. Controlling for these and physical health, structural and cognitive components of social capital were each related to mental health, with support for a possible mediated relationship between the structural component and mental health. Social capital was related to three forms of health, especially to mental health. Notable gender differences in this relationship were evident, with women reporting greater community participation and social cohesion than men, yet worse mental health. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this apparent anomaly needs further exploration. Because community participation is amenable to intervention, subject to causal testing, our findings may assist in the development of programs which are effective in promoting social cohesion and, thereby, mental health.     

Social comparison of distress and mental health help-seeking in the US general population

The role of social comparison of distress in the mental health help-seeking process remains largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine the association of socially compared distress with mental health help-seeking and perceived need for mental health care in a population sample. In 36,679 adult participants of the 2003 US National Survey on Drug Use and Health, data on 12-month help-seeking and perceived unmet need for care were compared between participants who described themselves as more worried, nervous or anxious than others vs. participants who described themselves as no more worried, nervous or anxious than others. Compared to participants who described themselves as no more worried, nervous or anxious, than others, those who described themselves as more worried, nervous or anxious were significantly more likely to seek professional help (adjusted odds ratio=1.84) or to perceive an unmet need for such help (adjusted odds ratio=1.44). It is concluded that social comparison of distress is a significant correlate of mental health help-seeking and perceived unmet need for such help. Individual variations in social comparison of distress may partly explain the discrepancy between need-as measured by non-compared distress-and help-seeking in the general population.     

Social capital, anticipated ethnic discrimination and self-reported psychological health: a population-based study

This study investigates the association between anticipated ethnic discrimination and self-reported psychological health, taking generalized trust in other people into consideration. The 2004 Public Health Survey in Skåne, Sweden, is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study including a total of 27,757 respondents aged 18–80 with a 59% response rate. Multivariate analyses of anticipated discrimination and self-reported psychological health were performed using logistic regressions in order to investigate the importance of possible confounders (age, country of origin, education and horizontal trust). Poor psychological health was reported by 13.0% of men and 18.9% of women, and 44.8% and 44.7%, respectively, reported that 50% or more of employers would discriminate according to race, colour of skin, religion, or cultural background. Respondents in younger age groups, born abroad, with high education, low trust and high levels of self-reported anticipated discrimination, had significantly higher levels of poor self-reported psychological health. There was a significant association between anticipated discrimination and low horizontal trust. After multiple adjustments for age, country of origin and education, the addition of trust in the model reduced the odds ratio of poor self-reported psychological health in the “most employers” category from 1.8 (1.4–2.1) to 1.5 (1.3–1.9) among men and from 2.2 (1.8–2.6) to 1.8 (1.5–2.2) among women. Generalized trust in other people may be a confounder of the association between anticipated discrimination and poor psychological health. Anticipated discrimination may have effects on the mental health of not only the affected minorities, but also on the mental health of the general population.     

社会兴趣与青少年心理健康的相关性分析

目的 了解青少年社会兴趣与心理健康的现况及关系。方法 采用分层整群抽样与随机抽样相结合的方法,抽取河南省4所中职学校中的605名青少年为研究对象,平均年龄为（16.42±1.06）岁,并运用青少年社会兴趣量表、青少年心理健康量表对其进行调研,采用SPSS20.0软件主要以单因素方差分析、相关分析及逐步回归分析法处理调研数据。结果 不同年级的青少年在社会兴趣（F = 8.263,P＜0.001）、心理健康（F = 8.007,P＜0.001）各构面上差异有统计学意义,经Scheffe检验,发现一年级与三年级之间差异有统计学意义（F值介于4.647～10.852之间,P＜0.001）;青少年的社会兴趣与心理健康之间具有低、中度正相关（r值介于0.382～0.687之间,P＜0.01）;青少年社会兴趣的友善性、归属感、贡献力3个预测变量能解释心理健康57.6%的变异量,且以友善性自变量解释力最高（46.6%）。结论 青少年的社会兴趣能影响其心理健康。     

Neighborhood residential segregation and mental health: A multilevel analysis on Hispanic Americans in Chicago

Compared with the relationship between neighborhood-level residential segregation and physical health of Hispanic Americans, less is known about how neighborhood residential segregation affects mental health. This study examines if, and how, neighborhood residential segregation is associated with the mental health of Puerto Rican and Mexican Americans in Chicago. Multilevel analyses reveal that neighborhood residential segregation is positively associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety in both groups. Neighborhood segregation, however, has more salient effects on the mental health of Mexican Americans. For Puerto Rican Americans, the effects of neighborhood segregation on mental health become nonsignificant after controlling for neighborhood-level income and individual-level covariates, whereas neighborhood segregation is strongly associated with the mental health of Mexican Americans even after controlling for other covariates. These findings show that living in a Mexican American-dominated community is not beneficial to mental health, in contrast to findings for physical health shown in previous studies.     

大学生心理健康与生源关系的相关分析

探讨生源与心理主相关因素的关系。方法：采用系列心理卫生评定质量ＳＣＬ－９０、１６ＰＥ、ＬＥＳ、ＣＳＱ、ＳＳＲＳ等对大学生心理健康进行评定。结果：采用系列心理测量软件能够全面地描述一个心理健康状况，生源与心理健康有显著指导工作，注重提高学生的心理调适能力，增强自信心，为更多的学生提供担任学生干部机会，以培养其责任感、义务感、促其心理健康成长。     

Social capital,political trust and self-reported psychological health: A population-based study

This study investigates the association between political trust (an aspect of institutional trust) in the Riksdag (the national parliament in Sweden) and self-reported psychological health, taking generalized (horizontal) trust in other people into account. The 2004 public health survey in Skåne in Southern Sweden is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study that was answered by 27,757 respondents aged 18–80 yielding a 59% response rate. A logistic regression model was used to investigate the associations between political trust and self-reported psychological health adjusting for possible confounders (age, country of origin, education, economic stress and generalized trust in other people i.e. horizontal trust). We found that 13.0% of the men and 18.9% of the women reported poor psychological health. A total of 17.3% and 11.6% of the male and female respondents, respectively, reported that they had no trust at all in the national parliament, and another 38.2% and 36.2%, respectively, reported that their political trust was not particularly high. Respondents in younger age groups, born abroad, with high education, high levels of economic stress, low horizontal trust and low political trust had significantly higher levels of self-reported poor psychological health. There was a significant association between low political trust and low horizontal trust. After adjustments for age, country of origin, education and economic stress, the inclusion of horizontal trust reduced the odds ratios of self-reported poor psychological health in the “no political trust at all” category compared to the “very high political trust” category from 1.6 to 1.4 among men and from 1.7 to 1.4 among women. It is concluded that low political trust in the Riksdag seems to be significantly and positively associated with poor mental health.     

Opening the black box of the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status and mental health: Neighborhood social-interactive characteristics as contextual mechanisms

Previous studies have linked low neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) to mental health problems. However, few studies have investigated the mechanisms underlying this association and most focused on the association with negative indicators of mental health, such as symptoms of depression or anxiety. This paper investigated whether neighborhood social characteristics (social interaction, trust, safety, organization participation, and attachment) mediate the association between NSES and mental health. We combined Danish register data with survey data from the North Denmark Region Health Survey 2017. Mental health was assessed with the Rand 12-item Short-form Survey (SF-12). The sample consisted of 14,969 individuals nested in 1047 neighborhoods created with an automated redistricting algorithm. We fitted multilevel structural equation mediation models and used a Monte Carlo simulation method to estimate confidence intervals for the indirect effects. NSES was positively associated with mental health. Neighborhood trust significantly mediated this relationship, accounting for 34% of the association after controlling for other mediators. These results indicate that higher levels of mental health in more affluent neighborhoods are partially explained by higher levels of trust. Improving neighborhood trust could mitigate sociogeographic inequalities in mental health.     

Social capital and suicide: an ecological study in Tokyo,Japan

Objective

The aim of this study is to clarify the association between area-based social capital and suicide rate among municipalities of Tokyo.

Methods

The study areas were 20 administrative municipalities of Tokyo. Social capital (i.e., organizational membership, social trust, fairness, helpfulness, and confidence in organizations) was measured based on data from a previous survey (response rate 28 %). Gender-specific age-adjusted suicide rates averaged over 5 years, sociodemographic, and other area characteristics were obtained from relevant national statistics. Multiple linear regression analysis of suicide rates was applied on each social capital variable, adjusting for the other area characteristics.

Results

There was no significant crude Pearson’s correlation between any social capital variable and suicide rate. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant negative association between social trust and suicide rate for men (p = 0.04).

Conclusions

While based on only limited evidence from a cross-sectional ecological study, area-based social trust may be associated with decreased suicide rates for men in Tokyo.     

Social capital and change in psychological health over time

The positive association between social capital and general health outcomes has been extensively researched over the past decade; however, studies investigating social capital and psychological health show less consistent results. Despite this, policy-makers worldwide still employ elements of social capital to promote and improve psychological health. This United Kingdom study investigates the association between changes in psychological health over time and three different individual-level proxies of social capital, measures of socio-economic status, social support and the confounders age and gender. All data are derived from the British Household Panel Survey data, with the same individuals (N = 7994) providing responses from 2000–2007.     

The mechanisms that associate community social capital with post-disaster mental health: A multilevel model

Many scholars have advocated that the time has come to provide empirical evidence of the mechanisms that associate community social capital with individual disaster mental health. For this purpose we conducted a study (n = 232) one year after a flood (2008) in Morpeth, a rural town in northern England. We selected posttraumatic stress as an indicator of disaster mental health. Our multilevel model shows that high community social capital is indirectly salutary for individual posttraumatic stress. In particular, in communities (defined as postcode areas) with high structural social capital, the results suggest that individuals confide in the social context (high cognitive social capital) to address disaster-related demands (high collective efficacy), and employ less individual psychosocial resources (i.e. coping strategies and social support). This “conservation of individual psychosocial resources” in a salutary social context decreases the association between the appraisal of the disaster and posttraumatic stress. As a result of this mechanism, individuals suffer less from posttraumatic stress in communities with high social capital. These findings provide new insights how intervention policies aimed at strengthening both objective and subjective dimensions of social capital may reduce post-disaster mental health.     

职业病患者社会支持与心理健康的相关性研究

目的 研究职业病患者的社会支持与心理健康状况及其之间的相关性,为提高职业病患者的心理健康水平提供决策依据。 方法 采用社会支持评定量表(SSRS)和症状自评量表(SCL-90)对135例职业病住院患者的社会支持、心理健康状况及其影响因素进行研究,运用SPSS 19.0软件对调查数据进行统计学处理。 结果 135例职业病患者SCL-90的平均总分为(178.56 ±66.96)分,9项因子平均分最小值为(1.72 ±0.73)分,最大为(2.25 ±1.01)分。总分和9项因子分均高于国内常模,各项得分在两者之间比较,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.01)。职业病患者的社会支持总分、客观支持、主观支持及支持利用度得分均低于国内常模(P<0.01)。男性职业病患者的各项得分均高于女性患者(P<0.05或0.01),年龄大的职业病患者的各项得分均高于年龄小的患者(P<0.05或0.01),工伤医疗组和单位支付组各项得分均高于自费组(P<0.05),学历高的职业性病患者在客观支持上得分高于学历低的患者(P<0.05或0.01),已婚组获得的社会支持总分、主观支持、客观支持得分都高于未婚组及离异或丧偶组(P<0.05),重度病情的职业病患者在社会支持总分、客观支持得分上高于中、轻度两组患者(P<0.01),家庭收入低的患者在其社会支持总分、客观支持、支持利用度上的得分低于家庭收入高的患者(P<0.05或0.01)。职业病患者的社会支持总分、主观支持得分与其躯体化、强迫症状、人际关系敏感、焦虑、恐怖、偏执等因子均呈负相关(P<0.05或0.01)。 结论 职业病患者获得的社会支持较低,与其心理健康状况差有一定的相关性,应引起我们注意。