Social capital and inequality in health between single and couple parents in Sweden

Abstract

Aims: To study whether social capital is associated with health among parents and if so, whether existing inequalities in health between single and couple parents could be better understood by introducing social capital as a possible mechanism for how health is distributed. Material and methods: At total of 2,500 parents with children in the age range of 4—16 years were randomized from existing national registers and asked to participate in a nationally distributed postal questionnaire; 1,589 parents participated (277 single and 1,312 couple), giving a response rate of 64%. The questionnaire contained questions regarding sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, self-rated health, emotional and instrumental social support, civic and social participation, and trust. Social capital was measured by different levels of civic and social participation and trust. A multivariate analysis was used in order to find possible associations between social capital and health, when adjusted for social support, sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Results: A low level of social capital (both social participation and trust), when adjusted for social support, socioeconomic and sociodemographic variables, was clearly and positively associated with less than good self-rated health. Social capital was unevenly distributed between single and couple mothers. Conclusions: Social capital is positively associated with self-rated health, at an individual level. The uneven distribution of social capital between single and couple mothers may be of some importance when trying to further understand and possibly alter the inequality in health that exists between single and couple parents.

Keywords

Inequality self-rated health single parent social capital

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Benzeval M. The self-reported health status of lone parents . Soc Sci Med 1998;46:1337—53.

Popay J. , Jones G. Patterns of Health and illness amongst lone parents. J Social Policy 1990;19:499—534.

Burstrom B. , Diderichsen F. , Shouls S. , Whitehead M. Lone mothers in Sweden: Trends in health and socioeconomic circumstances, 1979—1995 . J Epidemiol Community Health 1999;53:750—6.

Ringback Weitoft G , Burstrom B. , Rosen M. Premature mortality among lone fathers and childless men. Soc Sci Med 2004;59:1449—59.

Westin M. , Westerling R. Health and healthcare utilization among single mothers and single fathers in Sweden. Scand J Public Health 2006 ;34:182—9.

Putnam RD , Leonardi R. , Nanetti R. , Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1993.

Bourdieu P , editor. The forms of social capital. New York: Greenwood ; 1985.

Coleman JS Social capital in the creation of human capital . Am J Sociol 1988;94(Suppl: Organi).

Lin N. Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2002.

10.

Portes A. Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annu Rev Sociol 1998;24:1—24.

11.

Macinko J. , Starfield B. The utility of social capital in research on health determinants. Milbank Q 2001;79: 387—427.

12.

Subramanian SV , Kim DJ , Kawachi I. Social trust and self-rated health in US communities: A multilevel analysis. J Urban Health 2002 ;79(Suppl 1):S21—34.

13.

Islam MK , Merlo J. , Kawachi I. , Lindstrom M. , Gerdtham UG Social capital and health: Does egalitarianism matter? A literature review . Int J Equity Health 2006;5:3.

14.

Veenstra G. Social capital, SES and health: an individual-level analysis. Soc Sci Med 2000;50:619—29.

15.

Pollack CE , von dem Knesebeck O. Social capital and health among the aged: Comparisons between the United States and Germany. Health Place 2004;10:383—91.

16.

Rose R. How much does social capital add to individual health? A survey study of Russians . Soc Sci Med 2000;51:1421—35.

17.

Hyyppa MT , Maki J. Individual-level relationships between social capital and self-rated health in a bilingual community. Prev Med 2001;32:148—55.

18.

Singh-Manoux A. , Martikainen P. , Ferrie J. , Zins M. , Marmot M. , Goldberg M. What does self rated health measure? Results from the British Whitehall II and French Gazel cohort studies. J Epidemiol Community Health 2006;60:364—72.

19.

Burstrom B. , Fredlund P. Self rated health: Is it as good a predictor of subsequent mortality among adults in lower as well as in higher social classes? J Epidemiol Community Health 2001 ;55:836—40.

20.

Feinstein JS The relationship between socioeconomic status and health: A review of the literature. Milbank Q 1993;71:279—322.

21.

Hemingway H. , et al. The impact of socioeconomic status on health functioning as assessed by the SF-36 questionnaire: The Whitehall II study. Am J Public Health 1997;87: 1484—90.

22.

Iglesias E. , et al. Women, international migration and self-reported health. Soc Sci Med 2003;56:111—24.

23.

Sundquist J. , Johansson SE Long-term illness among indigenous and foreign—born people in Sweden. Soc Sci Med 1997;44:189—98.

24.

Hope S. , Power C. , Rodgers B. Does financial hardship account for elevated psychological distress in lone mothers? Soc Sci Med 1999;49:1637—49.

25.

Lindstrom M. Social capital, the miniaturisation of community and self-reported global and psychological health. Soc Sci Med 2004;59:595—607.

26.

Berkman LF , Glass T. , Brissette I. , Seeman TE From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Soc Sci Med 2000;51:843—57.

27.

Hanson BS , Ostergren PO , Elmstahl S. , Isacsson SO , Ranstam J. Reliability and validity assessments of measures of social networks, social support and control: Results from the Malmo Shoulder and Neck Study . Scand J Soc Med 1997;25:249—57.

28.

Lindstrom M. , Moghaddassi M. , Merlo J. Individual self-reported health, social participation and neighbourhood: A multilevel analysis in Malmo, Sweden. Prev Med 2004;39: 135—41.

29.

Kawachi I. , Kennedy BP , Glass R. Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis. Am J Public Health 1999;89:1187—93.

30.

Fukuyama F. The great disruption: Human nature and the reconstitution of social order . London: Profile; 1999.

31.

Putnam RD Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster; 2000.

32.

Adler S. , Kazanowski KA Building on strength: How a Michigan community is increasing its ``social capital''. Health Forum J 1998;41:56—9.

33.

Hallqvist J. , Diderichsen F. , Theorell T. , Reuterwall C. , Ahlbom A. Is the effect of job strain on myocardial infarction risk due to interaction between high psychological demands and low decision latitude? Results from Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP) . Soc Sci Med 1998;46: 1405—15.

34.

Cairney J. , Boyle M. , Offord DR , Racine Y. Stress, social support and depression in single and married mothers. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2003;38:442—9.

35.

Mellor JM , Milyo J. State social capital and individual health status. J Health Polit Policy Law 2005 ;30:1101—30.

36.

Fritzell S. , Burstrom B. Economic strain and self-rated health among lone and couple mothers in Sweden during the 1990s compared to the 1980s. Health Policy 2006;79(2—3): 253—64.

37.

Poortinga W. Social capital: An individual or collective resource for health? Soc Sci Med 2006;62:292—302.

38.

Poortinga W. Social relations or social capital? Individual and community health effects of bonding social capital. Soc Sci Med 2006;63(1):255—70.