The Effect of Cross-Level Interaction between Community Factors and Social Capital among Individuals on Physical Activity: Considering Gender Difference

This study examines the effect of cross-level interaction between community physical environment and social capital among individuals on physical activity by considering gender difference. In this regard, we ask two research questions: (1) What is the effect of cross-level interaction between community factors and social capital among individuals on physical activity? (2) Is there gender difference in the effect of the cross-level interaction? To examine the research questions, this study used the 2015 Korea Community Health Survey and used multi-level analyses. The empirical analyses show that while there are both positive and negative cross-level interaction effects between physical activity-supportive community environment and social capital among individuals on physical activity, the positive cross-level interaction effect is more pronounced for women than for men. These findings suggest that local efforts to improve public health should take into account the cross-level interaction effect between community physical environment and social capital among individuals as well as gender difference.