Social capital and cigarette smoking among Latinos in the United States

Self-reported neighborhood stressors and sleep quality among Puerto Rican young adults

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between changes in self-reported neighborhood stressors and sleep quality and determine whether this varied by sociocultural context among Puerto Rican young adults.

METHODS

Data come from the Boricua Youth Study Health Assessment, a sample of Puerto Rican young adults from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and South Bronx, New York (n = 818; mean age=22.9years). Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Neighborhood social stressors (disorder, social cohesion, and safety) were parent-reported in childhood and self-reported in young adulthood and categorized into: low in childhood/young adulthood (reference group), high in childhood/low in young adulthood, low in childhood/high in young adulthood, and high in childhood/young adulthood. Sociocultural context was based on participant residence during childhood (San Juan vs. South Bronx).

RESULTS

Adjusting for sociodemographic factors, living with high neighborhood stressors in both childhood and young adulthood (prevalence ratios=1.30, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.66) was associated with overall poor sleep (PSQI score >5). Among PSQI components, living with high neighborhood stressors in young adulthood only or in both time periods was associated with worse subjective sleep quality and daytime dysfunction. Additionally, there were various associations between the neighborhood stressor measures and PSQI components. Results did not differ by sociocultural context.

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that living with high levels of neighborhood stressors during childhood and young adulthood may have a cumulative adverse impact on sleep quality in young adulthood.

The Relationships between Social Capital, Metabolic, and Behavioral Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases: A Systematic Review

Background

Contextual risk factors such as social capital have a vital role in affecting behavioral and biological risk factors of NCDs. We aimed to systematically identify the relationship between different aspects of social capital (SC) with metabolic, and behavioral risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Methods

This is a systematic review. The period of study was 2000-2021. We searched the English international databases, i.e. PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science. Studies that reported NCDs' metabolic and behavioral risk factors as independent variables, were excluded. We also included studies if they analyzed the association between SC and metabolic and behavioral risk factors of NCDs.

Results

After the primary and quality appraisal process, 97 studies were entered in the final phase of the analysis. Five out of 18 studies reported an inverse association between SC and the level of alcohol drinking. Twenty-seven out of 32 studies reported a significant inverse association between SC and smoking and tobacco use, while only one study reported a significant positive association. Nine studies reported a significant inverse association between SC and high blood pressure. Three studies showed a significant inverse association between SC and diabetes. Seventeen studies indicated a significant positive association between SC and physical activity. Thirteen out of 17 studies reported a significant inverse association between SC, body mass index (BMI) and overweight.

Conclusion

High SC, people's participation and interaction are vital in tackling NCDs. Evidence shows positive effects of SC on prevention, control and improvement of NCDs' metabolic and behavioral risk factors.

The association between cigarette smoking attitudes and social capital among Iranian health and medical students: a cross-sectional study

Background

Smoking remains a leading public health challenge globally. As a psychosocial determinant of health, social capital can influence health attitudes and behaviors, and thus it may have the capacity to reduce smoking rates. The aim of this research was to examine the association between social capital and attitudes towards smoking among university students.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 538 health and medical students, recruited using the proportionate sampling method. Participants’ social capital and attitudes toward smoking were assessed using the social capital questionnaire (SCQ) and the scale of cigarette smoking attitude (CSA). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and the multiple regression analysis.

Results

About one in four health and medical students reported smoking, either currently or in the past, and 30% had either positive or indifferent attitudes towards smoking. The mean scores of the SCQ and the CSA were 105.1 ± 19.7 and 48.6 ± 11.2, respectively. There was a statistically significant negative association between the SCQ and the CSA scores (r = − 0.24; p < 0.001). In the regression analysis, the SCQ scores were also negatively and statistically significantly associated with the CSA scores, after controlling potential confounders (B: -0.09; 95% CI: − 0.13 to − 0.004).

Conclusions

As future healthcare providers, who are expected to take the primary role in reducing smoking rates in the community, health and medical students should be supported to develop appropriate attitudes towards smoking. Promoting positive social capital among university students has the capacity to improve their attitudes towards smoking. Possessing negative attitudes towards smoking should hopefully reduce smoking behaviors among future health professionals and improve their participation in anti-smoking campaigns.

Social engagement pattern, health behaviors and subjective well-being of older adults: an international perspective using WHO-SAGE survey data

BACKGROUND

Social engagement forms the basis of social relationships by providing a sense of belonging, social identity, and fulfillment. Previous research demonstrates that social engagement was associated with positive health behaviors among older adults. However, the results have been different across health-related behaviors, and mostly based on data from high-income countries. For example, studies from the US and UK showed that social engagement was protective against smoking, while others found social engagement encouraged more smoking in many Asian cultures. In this study, we aim to examine the association between social engagement and a range of health-related behaviors and subjective well-being among older adults in six low- to middle-income countries.

METHODS

Data from the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE Wave 1) were used. A total of 33,338 individuals aged 50 and older in China, Russia, India, Ghana, South Africa, and Mexico were included. Social engagement, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, depression symptoms, self-rated health status, and quality of life were assessed using established self-reported measures. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between social engagement and nine outcome variables, adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics.

RESULTS

Lower levels of social engagement were positively related to physical inactivity, prolonged sitting time, unhealthy sleep duration, perceived depression, poor self-rated health, and low quality of life. However, the associations between social engagement and tobacco use, excessive drinking, and insufficient fruit and vegetable intake were mixed across countries.

CONCLUSION

This international study found high social engagement as a potential health-promoting factor in some low- to middle-income countries. Although the impacts of social engagement on tobacco and alcohol use and diet were complicated and culture-specific, interventions at both individual and community levels should encourage healthy lifestyles through positive social engagement.

Associations between psychosocial work environments and social capital: a multilevel analysis study in a Chinese context

BACKGROUND

Understanding the determinants of social capital is the prerequisite to building social capital. However there was few studies to explore factors related to workplace social capital. We aim to examine associations between psychosocial work environments and social capital in a Chinese context through a cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai, China from December 2016 through March 2017. In total, 2380 workers from 32 workplaces were randomly sampled by a two-stage sampling procedure. Workplace social capital (WSC), psychosocial work environments (PWEs), and workplace Chinese Confucian values (CCVs), were assessed using validated and psychometrically tested measures. Multilevel ordinal regression models were used to examine the associations of WSC with individual- and workplace-level PWEs and workplace CCVs after controlling for individual socioeconomic characteristics.

RESULTS

After controlling for individual socioeconomic characteristics, all individual-level PWEs (unstandardized coefficients [B] ranging from 0.280 to 2.467) were positively associated with WSC. Individual-level workplace CCVs had mixed associations with WSC-high individual levels of respect for authorities (B: 0.325; 95%CI: 0.134, 0.516) and altruism (B: 0.347; 95%CI: 0.155, 0.539) were associated with high WSC, while high individual levels of acceptance of authorities (B: - 0.214; 95%CI: - 0.381, - 0.046) and the mianzi rule (B: - 0.258; 95%CI: - 0.435, - 0.080) were associatecd with low WSC. No workplace-level variable was associated with WSC.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that workplace social capital associates with multiple factors. Psychosocial work environments and cultural context are important in understanding variations in workplace social capital between individuals.

Social cohesion and the smoking behaviors of adults living with children

INTRODUCTION

The smoking behavior of adults can negatively impact children through exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and by modeling this unhealthy behavior. Little research has examined the role of the social environment in smoking behaviors of adults living with children. The present study specifically analyzed the relationship between social cohesion and smoking behaviors of adults living with children.

METHODS

Data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, a random-digit dial cross-sectional survey of California Adults, were used. Adults living with children reported their levels of social cohesion and smoking behaviors (N=13,978). Logistic regression models were used to predict odds of being a current smoker or living in a household in which smoking was allowed, from social cohesion.

RESULTS

Overall, 13% of the sample was current smokers and 3.74% lived in households in which smoking was allowed. Logistic regression models showed that each one-unit increase in social cohesion is associated with reduced odds of being a current smoker (AOR=0.92; 95% CI=0.85-0.99) and reduced odds of living in a household in which smoking is allowed (AOR=0.84; 95% CI=0.75-0.93), after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Among adults living with children, higher social cohesion is associated with a lower likelihood of both being and smoker and living in a home where smoking is allowed. Thus, future research is needed to better understand mechanisms that explain the relationship between social cohesion and smoking-related behavior in order to prevent smoking-related health consequences and smoking initiation among children and adults.

Family Environment and the Metabolic Syndrome: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) Sociocultural Ancillary Study (SCAS)

BACKGROUND

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Very limited work has evaluated associations of sociocultural processes with prevalence of the MetS.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate associations between family environment (cohesion/conflict) and the MetS, in a multi-site sample of US Hispanics/Latinos.

METHODS

A total of 3278 participants from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos underwent a clinical exam and completed psychosocial measures including family environment (cohesion and conflict) as part of the Sociocultural Ancillary Study.

RESULTS

The association between family environment and the MetS was moderated by sex. Among all women, higher family conflict was associated with MetS prevalence. Results by ancestry group showed that only among Cuban women, higher conflict was associated with the MetS, whereas only among Dominican men, greater cohesion was associated with the MetS.

CONCLUSIONS

The family context may be a sociocultural protective or risk factor among Hispanics/Latinos in terms of MetS risk, but these associations may vary by sex and Hispanic background.

Transnational, social, and neighborhood ties and smoking among Latino immigrants: does gender matter?

OBJECTIVES

We examined whether transnational ties, social ties, and neighborhood ties were independently associated with current smoking status among Latino immigrants. We also tested interactions to determine whether these associations were moderated by gender.

METHODS

We conducted a series of weighted logistic regression analyses (i.e., economic remittances, number of return visits, friend support, family support, and neighborhood cohesion) using the Latino immigrant subsample (n = 1629) of the National Latino and Asian American Study in 2002 and 2003.

RESULTS

The number of past-year return visits to the country-of-origin was positively associated with current smoker status. Gender moderated the association between economic remittances, friend support, and smoking. Remittance behavior had a protective association with smoking, and this association was particularly pronounced for Latino immigrant women. Friendship support lowered the odds of smoking among men, but not women.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results underscore the growing importance of transnational networks for understanding Latino immigrant health and the gendered patterns of the associations between social ties, transnational ties, and health risk behaviors.

Social engagement and chronic disease risk behaviors: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

OBJECTIVE

Although engagement in social networks is important to health, multiple different dimensions exist. This study identifies which dimensions are associated with chronic disease risk behaviors.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data on social support, loneliness, and neighborhood social cohesion from 5381 participants, aged 45-84 from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis was used.

RESULTS

After adjusting for individual characteristics and all social engagement variables, social support was associated with lower smoking prevalence (PR=0.88, 95% CI: 0.82, 0.94), higher probability of having quit (PR=1.03, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.06) and a slightly higher probability of achieving physical activity recommendations (PR=1.03, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.06). Neighborhood social cohesion was associated with very slightly higher probability of achieving recommended (PR=1.03, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.05) or any regular (PR=1.0, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.04) physical activity, and a higher probability of consuming at least five daily fruit and vegetable servings (PR=1.05, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.09).

CONCLUSIONS

Both social support and neighborhood social cohesion, a less commonly considered aspect of social engagement, appear to be important for chronic disease prevention interventions and likely act via separate pathways.

A multilevel analysis of gender, Latino immigrant enclaves, and tobacco use behavior

Research suggests that immigrant enclaves positively influence health behaviors such as tobacco use through supportive social networks and informal social control mechanisms that promote healthy behavioral norms. Yet, the influence of social cohesion and control on tobacco use may depend on smoking-related norms, which can vary by gender. This study examines the influence of neighborhood Latino immigrant enclave status on smoking and cessation among Hispanic men and women. Data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey was combined with census data to assess the relationship between immigrant enclaves, gender, and smoking using multilevel regression. The effect of the Hispanic enclave environment on smoking differed by gender. Living in an enclave had a harmful effect on tobacco use among Hispanic men, marginally increasing the likelihood of smoking and significantly reducing cessation. This effect was independent of neighborhood socioeconomic status, nativity, and other individual demographics. Neighborhood immigrant concentration was not associated with smoking or cessation for Hispanic women. Research, interventions, and policies aimed at reducing smoking among Hispanics may need to be gender responsive to ensure effectiveness as well as health and gender equity.

Social capital in association with health status of women in reproductive age: study protocol for a sequential explanatory mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

Women's health is a general health priority. Preserving and improving women's health is not only a basic human right, but it is also essential for the health of all nations. Women's health in Reproductive age affects long-term health of theirs, their family members, and community. Origins of health inequalities are very complicated. Health outcomes are influenced by biological, social and political factors, so to improve women's health it is necessary to recognize all these factors. Social capital is one of the social determinants of health that might play a considerable role in health inequalities. The association between social capital and health varies according on the sample studied, the type of health outcome and the context in which it is studied. This mixed methods study was designed to determine and explore of relationship between social capital and health status of women of reproductive age in Tehran (capital city of Iran) with its specific social-cultural characteristics.

METHODS/DESIGN

This study is sequential explanatory mixed methods study, follow-up explanations variant, with two strands (phases). This design will be implemented in two distinct phases. The first phase is a population-based cross-sectional survey on 770 women of reproductive age residing in any of the 22 municipal districts across Tehran. Based on a need to further understand the quantitative results, researchers will implement a second qualitative phase that is designed to help explain the initial quantitative results. Finally, the researchers will present an interpretation about explanation of quantitative results using the qualitative data.

DISCUSSION

This study promotes women's health by determining the priorities and designing evidence-based interventions founded on the basic and insightful information provided on social capital and the status of the health of women.