The relationship between neighborly social capital and health outcomes

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in understanding the relationship between social capital and undesirable health outcomes. Social capital theory suggests that better health outcomes may result from certain “neighborly” aspects of social capital. METHODS: This study used secondary data from the Social Capital Index. Bivariate correlations were calculated between neighborly social capital and health outcome variables. Next, neighborly social capital variables were entered as predictors of health outcomes in a series of stepwise regressions. Regional comparisons were conducted across four U.S. regions. Comparisons of the regression model structures were conducted by applying a model derived from one region to the data from another region and contrasting the resulting crossed R(2) with the original direct R(2) to identify differential regression weights across the four regions that warrant interpretation. RESULTS: The correlation and regression analyses showed significant negative relationships between three neighborly social capital variables (% who do favors for their neighbors, % who worked with neighbors to improve something, and % who trust all or most of their neighbors) and health outcomes including: % in fair/poor health, premature mortality rate, % diabetic, and % obese. In regional comparisons, only the South region had a direct and crossed R(2) significantly different from other regions, with this difference largely attributable to an unexpected positive relationship between trusting neighbors and negative health outcomes in the South. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to increase neighborly social capital may help to alleviate negative health outcomes in the U.S. Anomalously, in the South, trusting neighbors may be related to worse health outcomes. KEY MESSAGES: • Being neighborly may enhance positive health outcomes in most parts of the U.S. • Strong social support impacts urban health.