Social Capital as a Mediator and Moderator in the Association between Loneliness and Health, Israel as a Case Study

Orna Baron-Epel, Roni Elran-Barak and Milka Donchin
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Orna Baron-Epel: School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Roni Elran-Barak: School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Milka Donchin: The Braun School of Public Health & Community Medicine, The Hebrew University-Hadassah, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Loneliness has been associated with poor health. Social capital (SC) could possibly prevent the ill effects of loneliness. The study aims to assess the association of loneliness with physical and mental health in four different communities in Israel and study the impact of structural and cognitive SC on that association. A cross-sectional face-to-face survey with 4620 adults in four towns was conducted. The questionnaire included self-rated health (SRH), mental health (MH), loneliness, cognitive and structural SC and socioeconomic characteristics. Logistic regression analysis and mediation and moderation effects were calculated. Loneliness was associated with worse SRH (OR = 0.4–0.5) and worse MH (OR = 2.0–10). Both SC variables were associated with health. However, towns differ in these associations. Structural SC serves as a significant mediator between loneliness and SRH in all towns and is a mediator between loneliness and MH in two towns. Cognitive social capital was a moderator between loneliness and MH in two towns. This study suggests that increasing SC could possibly compensate for loneliness and buffer its effect on health. The study reinforces the need for the performance of separate health profiles to assess possible interventions for each community, as not always can we generalize these results to all communities.

Keywords: loneliness; self-rated health; psychosomatic symptoms; social capital; structural; cognitive; Arabs; Jews (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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