Study On Social Capital And Its Influence On Mental Health Among The Elderly In Communities, Shanghai

BackgroundWith the acceleration of urbanization and population ageing, protecting and promoting mental health of the elderly has drawn attention. The social model has indicated the association of social factors and mental health. The research on social capital's influence on mental health may further demonstrate the social model of mental health. Social capital is a relatively new concept which has attracted significant attention in recent years. A burgeoning literature has linked social capital to mental health which reflects increasing acknowledgement that social capital is an important determinant of mental health. Social capital is connected with the socio-cultural background, which explains the difference in social capital between Chinese and western people. There has been relatively little research on social capital in China, and no empirical evidence regarding the direction and strength of these linkages between social capital and mental health among the elderly in urban communities exists so far.ObjectiveThe present study is to explore the manifestation of social capital in urban Shanghai among the elderly, to assess the influence of social capital on mental health of the elderly in urban communities, Shanghai.MethodFocus group discussions were conducted among 104 residents over 60 years old from three different types of communities in Xuhui District, Shanghai. 12 groups were set up based on the participants' age and social economic status. Questions including structural/cognitive social capital were adopted to explore social capital among the elderly. Adopting multistage stratified cluster random sampling, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,225 elderly people aged 60 and older in three communities in Shanghai, China. Mental health was measured with a 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The instrument was used to measure social capital including structural and cognitive social capital, and the items of the social capital questionnaire were based on qualitative interview and existing studies. The statistic method included factor analysis, univariate and multivariate methods, etc.Resultsâ‘ Perceptions and experience related to social capital among the elderly were captured and analyzed. Structural social capital comprised organization participation, social support, and civic participation. Cognitive social capital included trust, social cohesion and social control.â‘¡17.4% of the sample was probable cases of mental ill health. Respondents in younger age groups, currently in marriage, with higher house satisfaction and higher income satisfaction had significantly better mental health status.â‘¢Using factor analysis, we drew four social capital components including social connectedness, social cohesion, social control and trust. Social connectedness included organization participation, social support and civic participation. Respondents being female, with higher house satisfaction as well as higher income satisfaction had significantly higher social capital.â‘£After multiple adjustment for age, sex, marital status, education, income stratification and house satisfaction, we found social capital was a protective factor to mental health of the elderly (OR=0.569, 95%CI: 0.479-0.676). Social connectedness and trust, two social capital components showed statistically significant associations with GHQ-12 scores (OR=0.697, 95%CI: 0.619-0.783 and OR=0.841, 95%CI: 0.722-0.979) . We also found that age and house satisfaction were main factors influencing mental health of the elderly. The mental health of older and lower house satisfaction is worse than that of younger and higher house satisfaction.ConclusionsThe present study showed that the manifestation of elderly people' social capital in setting of urban Shanghai was preliminarily investigated and analyzed and it has some unique characteristics. Mental health of the elderly should draw more attention. Four social capital components included social connectedness, social cohesion, social control and trust. Social capital is a protective factor to mental health, particularly two major components, social connectedness and trust. The study may provide evidence for the social capital theory exploration and further study on the effective mental health intervention through social capital building up is recommended.