Research on the relationship between social capital and individual health often suffers from important limitations. Most research relies on cross-sectional data, which precludes identifying whether participation predicts health and/or vice versa. Some important conceptualizations of social capital, like social participation, have seldom been examined. Little is known about participation and health in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, both physical and mental health have seldom been tested together, and variation by age has rarely been examined. We use longitudinal survey data for 2,328 men and women from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health, containing (1) several measures of social participation, (2) measures of physical and mental health, and (3) an age range of 15 to 80+ years. Our results differ by gender and age and for mental and physical health. We find that social participation is associated with better physical health but can predict worse mental health for Malawians.
AdlerPaul S.KwonSeok-Woo. 2002. “Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept.”Academy of Management Review27(1):17–40.
2.
AjrouchKristine J.BlandonAlysia Y.AntonucciToni C.2005. “Social Networks among Men and Women: The Effects of Age and Socioeconomic Status.”The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences60(6):S311–17.
3.
AnglewiczPhilipAdamsJimiOnyangoFrancisWatkinsSusanKohlerHans-Peter. 2009. “The Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project 2004–06: Data Collection, Data Quality, and Analysis of Attrition.”Demographic Research20(21):503–40.
4.
AnglewiczPhilipKohlerHans-Peter. 2009. “Overestimating HIV Infection: The Construction and Accuracy of Subjective Probabilities of HIV Infection in Rural Malawi.”Demographic Research20(6):65–96.
5.
AvlundKirstenHolsteinBjorn E.MortensenErik LykkeSchrollMarianne. 1999. “Active Life in Old Age. Combining Measures of Functional Ability and Social Participation.”Danish Medical Bulletin46(4) 345–49.
6.
Bignami-VanAsscheReniersSimona, GeorgesWeinrebAlexander A.2003. “An Assessment of the KDICP and MDICP Data Quality: Interviewer Effects, Question Reliability and Sample attrition.”Demographic Research1(2):31–76.
7.
BinagwahoAgnesRatnayakeNiloo. 2009. “The Role of Social Capital in Successful Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Africa.”PLoS medicine6(1):e18.
8.
BourdieuPierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” Pp. 47–58 in Handbook of Theory Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by RichardsonJ. E.London: Greenwood Press.
9.
BukovAleksejMaasInekeLampertThomas. 2002. “Social Participation in Very Old Age Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Findings from BASE.”The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences57(6):P510–17.
10.
CampbellCatherineWilliamsB.GilgenDavid. 2002. “Is Social Capital a Useful Conceptual Tool for Exploring Community Level Influences on HIV Infection? An Exploratory Case Study from South Africa.”AIDS Care14(1):41–54.
11.
CattellVicky. 2001. “Poor People, Poor Places, and Poor Health: The Mediating Role of Social Networks and Social Capital.”Social Science & Medicine52(10):1501–16.
12.
ColemanJames Samuel. 1988. “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital.”American Journal of Sociology94:S95–S120.
13.
CornwellBenjamin. 2011. “Age Trends in Daily Social Contact Patterns.”Research on Aging33(5):598–631.
14.
CornwellBenjaminLaumannEdward O.SchummL. Philip. 2008. “The Social Connectedness of Older Adults: A National Profile.”American Sociological Review73(2):185–203.
15.
DalgardOdd SteffenHåheimLise Lund. 1998. “Psychosocial Risk Factors and Mortality: A Prospective Study with Special Focus on Social Support, Social Participation, and Locus of Control in Norway.”Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health52(8):476–81.
16.
DurkheimÉmile. [1897] 1951. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Translated by SpauldingJohn A.SimpsonGeorge. New York: The Free Press.
17.
FeldScott L.1981. “The Focused Organization of Social Ties.”American Journal of Sociology86(5):1015–35.
18.
ForsterPeter G.1994. “Culture, Nationalism, and the Invention of Tradition in Malawi.”Journal of Modern African Studies32(3):477–97.
19.
GandekBarbaraWareJohn E.AaronsonNeil K.ApoloneGiovanniBjornerJakob B.BrazierJohn E.BullingerMonikaKaasaSteinLeplegeAlainPrietoLuisSullivanMarianne. 1998. “Cross-validation of Item Selection and Scoring for the SF-12 Health Survey in Nine Countries: Results from the IQOLA Project.”Journal of Clinical Epidemiology51(11):1171–78.
20.
GerlandPatrick. 2006. “Effects of Social Interactions on Individual AIDS-Prevention Attitudes and Behaviors in Rural Malawi.” Ph.D. dissertation, Program in Population Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
21.
GregsonSimonTerceiraNicolaMushatiPhyllisNyamukapaConstanceCampbellCatherine. 2004. “Community Group Participation: Can It Help Young Women to Avoid HIV? An Exploratory Study of Social Capital and School Education in Rural Zimbabwe.”Social Science & Medicine58(11):2119–32.
22.
HelleringerStephaneKohlerHans-Peter. 2005. “Social Networks, Perceptions of Risk, and Changing Attitudes towards HIV/AIDS: New Evidence from a Longitudinal Study Using Fixed-effects Analysis.”Population Studies59(3):265–82.
23.
HelliwellJohn F.PutnamRobert D.2004. “The Social Context of Well-being.”Philosophical Transactions-Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences359:1435–46.
24.
HsiehNing. 2013. “Perceived Risk of HIV Infection and Mental Health in Rural Malawi.”Demographic Research28(13):373–408.
25.
HyyppäMarkku T.MäkiJuhani. 2003. “Social Participation and Health in a Community Rich in Stock of Social Capital.”Health Education Research18(6):770–79.
26.
KawachiIchiroBerkmanLisa F.2001. “Social Ties and Mental Health.”Journal of Urban Health78(3):458–67.
27.
KawachiIchiroKennedyBruce P.GlassRoberta. 1999. “Social Capital and Self-rated Health: A Contextual Analysis.”American Journal of Public Health89(8):1187–93.
28.
KawachiIchiroKennedyBruce P.LochnerKimberlyProthrow-StithDeborah. 1997. “Social Capital, Income Inequality, and Mortality.”American Journal of Public Health87(9):1491–98.
29.
KohlerHans-PeterBehrmanJere R.WatkinsSusan Cotts. 2007. “Social Networks and HIV/AIDS Risk Perceptions.”Demography44(1):1–33.
30.
KohlerHans-PeterWatkinsSusan C.BehrmanJere R.AnglewiczPhilipKohlerIliana V.ThorntonRebecca L.MkandawireJamesHondeHastingsHawaraAugustineChilimaBenBandaweChiwozaMwapasaVictor. 2015. “Cohort Profile: The Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH).”International Journal of Epidemiology44(2):394–404.
31.
KohlerIlianaKohlerHans-PeterAnglewiczPhilipBehrmanJere. 2012. “Intergenerational Transfers in the Era of HIV/AIDS: Evidence from Rural Malawi.”Demographic Research27(27):775–834.
32.
LinNan. 1999. “Building a Network Theory of Social Capital.”Connections22(1):28–51.
33.
LindströmMartinHansonBertil S.ÖstergrenPer-Olof. 2001. “Socioeconomic Differences in Leisure-time Physical Activity: The Role of Social Participation and Social Capital in Shaping Health Related Behaviour.”Social Science & Medicine52(3):441–51.
34.
LochnerKimberly A.KawachiIchiroBrennanRobert T.BukaStephen L.2003. “Social Capital and Neighborhood Mortality Rates in Chicago.”Social Science & Medicine56(8):1797–805.
35.
MarsdenPeter V.1987. “Core Discussion Networks of Americans.”American Sociological Review52(1):122–31.
36.
MerckenLiesbethSnijdersTom A. B.SteglichChristianVartiainenErkkiDe VriesHein. 2010. “Dynamics of Adolescent Friendship Networks and Smoking Behavior.”Social Networks32(1):72–81.
37.
MoffittTerrie E.2002. “Teen-aged Mothers in Contemporary Britain.”Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry43(6):727–42.
38.
MorganDavid L.1998. “Age Differences in Social Network Participation.”Journal of Gerontology43(4):S129–37.
39.
NavarroVicente. 2002. “A Critique of Social Capital.”International Journal of Health Services32(3):423–32.
40.
NummelaOlliSulanderTommiRahkonenOssiKaristoAnttiUutelaAntti. 2008. “Social Participation, Trust and Self-rated Health: A Study among Ageing People in Urban, Semi-urban and Rural Settings.”Health & Place14(2):243–53.
41.
PayneCollin F.MkandawireJamesKohlerHans-Peter. 2013. “Disability Transitions and Health Expectancies among Adults 45 Years and Older in Malawi: A Cohort-based Model.”PLoS medicine10(5): e1001435.
42.
PhillipsDerek L.1967. “Mental Health Status, Social Participation, and Happiness.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior8(4):285–91.
43.
PronykPaul M.HarphamTrudyMorisonLinda A.HargreavesJames R.KimJulia C.PhetlaGodfreyWattsCharlotte H.PorterJohn D.2008. “Is Social Capital Associated with HIV Risk in Rural South Africa?”Social Science & Medicine66(9):1999–2010.
44.
PutnamRobert D.2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
45.
RoseRichard. 2000. “How Much Does Social Capital Add to Individual Health?”Social Science & Medicine51(9):1421–35.
46.
SwidlerAnnWatkinsSusan C.2007. “Ties of Dependence: AIDS and Transactional Sex in Rural Malawi.”Studies in Family Planning38(3):147–62.
47.
SzreterSimonWoolcockMichael. 2004. “Health by Association? Social Capital, Social Theory, and the Political Economy of Public Health.”International Journal of Epidemiology33(4):650–67.
48.
TrinitapoliJennyWeinrebAlexander. 2012. Religion and AIDS in Africa. New York: Oxford University Press.
49.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2013. World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision, Volume I: Comprehensive Tables. New York: United Nations.
50.
VeenstraGerry. 2000. “Social Capital, SES and Health: An Individual-level Analysis.”Social Science & Medicine50(5):619–29.
51.
WareJohn E.KosinskiMarkKellerSusan D.1996. “A 12-Item Short-form Health Survey: Construction of Scales and Preliminary Tests of Reliability and Validity.”Medical Care34(3):220–33.
52.
WatkinsSusanBehrmanJere R.KohlerHans-PeterZuluEliya. 2003. “Introduction to Research on Demographic Aspects of HIV/AIDS in Rural Africa.”Demographic Research Special Collections1(1):1–30.
53.
WatkinsSusan Cotts. 2004. “Navigating the AIDS Epidemic in Rural Malawi.”Population and Development Review30(4):673–705.
54.
WindTim R.KomproeIvan H.2012. “The Mechanisms That Associate Community Social Capital with Post-disaster Mental Health: A Multilevel Model.”Social Science & Medicine75(9):1715–20.
55.
YoungFrank W.GlasgowNina. 1998. “Voluntary Social Participation and Health.”Research on Aging20(3):339–62.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
