Public acceptance towards plastic waste-to-energy gasification projects: The role of social trust and health consciousness

Public acceptance plays an essential role in successfully constructing and operating innovative and evolving technologies that promote ecological sustainability and pollution reduction. The present study investigates the factors influencing public acceptance of plastic waste-to-energy gasification projects. The research added social trust and health consciousness to the theory of planned behavior. Using the structural equation modeling, 513 valid survey questionnaire responses from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China, were analyzed. The most notable results reveal that attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control have a major impact on the public acceptability of the initiative. There was no correlation between social trust and public support for the project. Social trust affects public acceptance of the project through attitude. Health consciousness was shown to be favorably connected with public approval of the project both directly and indirectly through attitude. This study serves policymakers and stakeholders with robust policy recommendations to promote public acceptance of plastic waste-to-energy gasification schemes and other hazardous facilities.

Long-term effects of the left-behind experience on health and its mechanisms: Empirical evidence from China

Previous studies have primarily focused on the contemporaneous, short-term and medium-term effects of the childhood left-behind experience on subsequent health, but ignored its long-term effects and the mediating mechanisms of health outcomes. Using nationally representative data from the 2018 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, this study uses self-rated health as a measure of health outcomes to examine the long-term effects of the left-behind experience and elucidate the underlying mechanisms that contribute to health inequality from a life-course perspective. The results show: (1) the childhood left-behind experience exerts a long-term negative impact on self-rated health in adulthood, and this impact persists and does not fade over time after ending the left-behind status; (2) the influence of the childhood left-behind experience on self-rated health demonstrates a cumulative disadvantage effect, with longer duration of being left-behind resulting in greater negative impacts; additionally, there's a critical window effect, with earlier left-behind experience leading to more significant negative outcomes; (3) the experience of being left behind during childhood has a negative impact and threshold effect on social trust in adulthood, meaning that the left-behind experience negatively affects social trust, but the duration of being left behind doesn't exacerbate this reduction; and (4) social trust is a key mediating factor between left-behind experiences and health, explaining 8.70% of this effect, and explaining 12.15% and 7.71% of mediation effects for adults with left-behind experience in middle and primary school stages, respectively.

Green finance and environmental, social, and governance: evidence from Chinese listed companies

In recent years, academics have paid more attention to green finance, and public companies have reached a broad consensus on the concept of timely environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure. Due to the close relationship between green finance and ESG, this presents an opportunity to determine whether green finance compels companies to actively disclose ESG. The sample for this study consists of China's non-financial A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021, and the empirical findings demonstrate that green finance can positively influence the ESG performance of listed companies. Through an analysis of heterogeneity, this study reaches the following conclusions: state-owned enterprises, heavy pollution companies, and companies in low-carbon pilot cities perform better in terms of green finance's role in promoting ESG scoring. This study also introduces market concentration and social trust as the moderating variables, enriching the green finance research framework. Through the analysis of moderating variables, the 'black box' effect of green finance on ESG is disclosed, providing theoretical support for the government and companies to better comprehend the policy effect as well as a reference for reform and experimental promotion of green finance.

Social equity perception and public mental health: a Chinese study with panel data

BACKGROUND

Mental health is a vital part of an individual's overall health and well-being, and the relationship between society and individuals has always been a focus of academic and public attention. However, the effect of social equity perceptions on individual mental health remains unclear.

METHODS

Data were collected from 8,922 survey respondents with an average age of 47.533 years from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey 2016 and 2018. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale was used to assess mental health. A two-way fixed effects regression model was used to determine the association between social equity perception and individual mental health.

RESULTS

Individuals with higher perceptions of social equity were more likely to report better mental health ([Formula: see text] = -0.944, p < 0.01). Happiness, life satisfaction, and social trust partially play mediating roles in the relationship between social equity perception and individual mental health, while education and age play moderating roles.

CONCLUSION

Social equity perception is a vital factor that affects mental health. Public policies should focus on helping less educated and older people improve their social equity perception to improve their mental health.

Impact of value similarity on social trust in medical students: a cross-sectional web survey

BACKGROUND

Social trust in medical students is trust in the cluster of medical students and not individual medical students. Social trust in medical students seems critical in clinical practice since citizens often face unknown medical students for the first time. However, most previous research has focused on interpersonal trust in particular medical professions, and social trust in medical students has not been addressed sufficiently. In social science, the Salient Value Similarity model has demonstrated that the value similarity between professionals and citizens is associated with social trust. This research aimed to explore the relationship between social trust in medical students and the perception of value similarity. This study also aimed to determine whether the information of medical students strengthens social trust in them.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate how the perception of value similarity affects social trust. The participants answered the social trust questionnaires before and after reading a brief summary of the medical education curriculum and certification via the internet in Japan. The model structure of social trust in medical students, including the perception of value similarity, was investigated using SEM. A paired t-test was used to examine the effect of informing citizens about the knowledge, skills, and professionalism requirements of students attending medical school on social trust by reading the brief summary.

RESULTS

The study included 658 participants, who all answered a web questionnaire. Social trust in medical students was associated with the perception of ability and value similarity. Social trust in medical students, the perception of ability, and value similarity were improved by information about medical students.

CONCLUSIONS

The perception of ability and value similarity seem to affect social trust in medical students. Information on medical education regarding the knowledge, skills, and professionalism of medical students may improve social trust in these students. Further research is required to sophisticate the model of social trust in medical students by exploring social trust in the medical students' supervisors in clinical settings.

Bright sides and dark sides: Unveiling the double-edged sword effects of social networks

Social networks have both positive and negative effects as a double-edged sword. However, previous studies have mostly focused on the positive effects of social networks, whereas the negative effects have received less scrutiny and need to be tapped empirically. In this quantitative study, we investigate the multiple effects of social networks, including positive instrumental, positive sentimental, negative instrumental, and negative sentimental effects, using data from the 2020 Urban and Rural Community Survey in China (N = 19,585). The results showed that the four types of effects were manifested during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and were dominated by positive effects. More importantly, social networks can significantly shape individual subjective well-being and social trust. As positive effects, transmitting epidemic information and providing psychological comfort significantly protect subjective well-being and enhance social trust. However, as negative effects, spreading rumors and conveying negative emotions can significantly detriment subjective well-being and undermine social trust. In this regard, future research needs to pay special attention to the double-edged sword effect of social networks to more comprehensively understand the effect of multiple pathways of interpersonal social networks on individuals' subjective well-being and life opportunities.

The role of trust, information and legal stability in the development of renewable energy: the analysis of non-economic factors affecting entrepreneurs' investments in green energy in Poland

The aim of the article is to analyse the factors influencing entrepreneurs' decisions about investing in renewable energy. It outlines a number of different factors that may affect the process of transforming entrepreneurs into business prosumers, who thus want to limit the effects of rising energy prices. The article defends the thesis that in addition to the economic, technological and psychological dimensions, legal and political stability, access to reliable information and the level of trust in a given society are equally important. Based on the quantitative research results, the article indicates which elements are particularly important for entrepreneurs when making decisions about investing in renewable energy and which institutions are indicated by Polish entrepreneurs as responsible for implementing energy transition. The article also indicates that information about the possibility of receiving funding from the European Union and the government, the government's energy policy and technological possibilities is important for entrepreneurs' decisions about investing in renewable energy in Poland. It is always difficult to implement sustainable development goals without an atmosphere of trust and predictable legal stability in which entrepreneurs can run their businesses.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-023-03400-z.

An Integrated Approach to the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Social Cohesion

The core sociological subject of 'social cohesion' (hereafter SC) has re-emerged as a key concept in the social sciences. On the one hand, SC is thought to be influenced by a society's degree of inequalities and the quality of its welfare state. On the other hand, SC is thought to be instrumental in its own right to other factors such as economic growth, institutional quality, and individual well-being. In recent years, a few attempts have been made to measure SC empirically. Many current indices have not been sufficiently theoretically substantiated, and do not consider the importance of different 'social levels' when explaining and measuring SC as both cause and effect of other correlates. Very often, SC is simply defined as a 'social quality' or a quality of a collective. As a result, measures are often aggregate macro-indices leading to a loss of the information base of any social 'units' below the macro-societal-level. Contributing to this important methodological debate, this paper provides a conceptual reformulation of SC. Hence, when assessing SC based on a multi-dimensional index, it is insightful and feasible to evaluate both its internal variation as well as its holistic validity. In fact, it is proposed that these two aspects of measurement stand in direct relationship to one-another. The paper starts out with a discussion of SC as a 'social fact' in the Durkheimian sense. In addition, three bridging propositions on the measurement of SC are advanced: (a) SC as outcome or consequence at the level of individual attitudes and orientations ('micro'); (b) SC as degree of dissimilarity and presence of latent conflict within a society at the level of salient social categories ('meso'), and (c) SC as predictor, social determinant and hence antecedent at the societal-level ('macro'). Using all rounds of the European Social Survey with a very large sample size, the advantages of this approach are illustrated by singling-out the important link between socio-economic inequalities, social cohesion and individual subjective well-being in a path of action.

Subjective social status and health among older adults in China: the longitudinal mediating role of social trust

BACKGROUND

From a developmental perspective, this study explored the interplays between subjective social status (SSS), social trust (ST), and health status measured by self-rated health (SRH) among older adults in the context of China. It also tested the longitudinal mediation of ST between SSS and SRH.

METHODS

After excluding samples with missing values, we analyzed 4,877 individual responses from those aged 60 years or older, extracted from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data in 2014, 2016, and 2018. We used latent growth modeling to test the hypothesized relationships among their SSS, ST, and SRH.

RESULTS

Latent growth modeling based on bootstrapping showed that the SSS, ST, and SRH of older adults all increased linearly and that the mechanism of SSS acted on the SRH as follows: the initial level of SSS indirectly influenced the initial level and the growth rate of the SRH, respectively, through the initial level of ST, and the initial level and growth rate of SSS played an indirect role in the growth rate of the SRH through the growth rate of ST.

CONCLUSION

The findings have practical implications for promoting health for older adults and realizing active aging in China. Therefore, we recommend establishing a family-centered and community-supported social support system for those with lower social status among older adults and a friendly community environment with various social, cultural, and recreational activities to improve the ST among older adults, thereby improving their health.

Make it or break it: On-time vaccination intent at the time of Covid-19

On-time effective vaccination is critical to curbing a pandemic, but this is often hampered by citizens' hesitancy to get quickly vaccinated. This research concentrates on the hypothesis that, besides traditional factors in the literature, vaccination success would hinge on two dimensions: a) addressing a broader set of risk perception factors than health-related issues only, and b) securing sufficient social and institutional trust at the time of vaccination campaign launch. We test this hypothesis regarding Covid-19 vaccination preferences in six European countries and at the early stage of the pandemic by April 2020. We find that addressing the two roadblock dimensions could further boost Covid-19 vaccination coverage by 22%. The study also offers three extra innovations. The first is that the traditional segmentation logic between vaccine "acceptors", "hesitants" and "refusers" is further justified by the fact that segments have different attitudes: refusers care less about health issues than they are worried about family tensions and finance (dimension 1 of our hypothesis). In contrast, hesitants are the battlefield for more transparency by media and government actions (dimension 2 of our hypothesis). The second added value is that we extend our hypothesis testing with a supervised non-parametric machine learning technique (Random Forests). Again, consistent with our hypothesis, this method picks up higher-order interaction between risk and trust variables that strongly predict on-time vaccination intent. We finally explicitly adjust survey responses to account for possible reporting bias. Among others, vaccine-reluctant citizens may under-report their limited will to get vaccinated.

The role of community trust for compliance with the Swedish COVID-19 immunisation programme

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination as an important and engaging topic once again entered the public debate in many countries, including Sweden. In particular, the varying degree to which different social groups tend to choose to get vaccinated was raised as a point of discussion on the agenda. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of various forms of trust, especially community trust, in the explanation of vaccine coverage in the Swedish COVID-19 immunisation programme.

METHODS

In this study, individual survey data from the Swedish Trust Barometer were aggregated and combined with socio-demographic register-based data at Regional Statistical Areas (RegSO) to examine the relationship between trust and vaccine coverage at the local community level.

RESULTS

The results showed that both generalised and institutional trust seemed to be essential when it comes to explaining vaccination coverage. In addition, we showed that community trust, that is, trust in neighbours and people living in the neighbourhood, was an even stronger factor when it comes to explaining vaccination coverage at the local level.

CONCLUSIONS

This article contributes to the literature on trust in relation to health care by identifying a new dimension of trust with significance to immunisation that is worthy of future scholarly attention.

The relationship between Chinese adults' self-assessments of family social status in childhood and depression: A moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

Using the data from a large-scale Chinese national survey, this study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms between Chinese adults' self-assessments of family social status in childhood and depression.

METHODS

The research data was from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2020. We selected 13,430 Chinese adults aged 16-60 as participants, and used the PROCESS macro program to conduct moderated mediation analysis.

RESULTS

Chinese adults' self-assessments of family social status in childhood had a statistically significant negative predictive effect on depression. The sharing frequency of WeChat Moments played a partial mediating role in the relationship between self-assessment of family social status in childhood and depression. Furthermore, social trust moderated the direct effect of mediation model. Age moderated the second half of the mediation model, and the effect was statistically significant in the younger population (young people), but not in the older population (middle-aged people).

LIMITATIONS

This was a cross-sectional study and no causal conclusions could be drawn.

CONCLUSIONS

Chinese adults' self-assessment of family social status in childhood could affect depression in adulthood through sharing frequency of WeChat Moments. People with higher social trust can effectively buffer the adverse effect of self-assessed low family social status in childhood on depression. Age moderated the relationship between sharing frequency of WeChat Moments and depression, but this moderating effect was only significant in the younger population.

Social trust, cultural trust, and the will to sacrifice for environmental protections

Because environmental problems are characterized by uncertainty and free-riding fears, trust that others will reciprocate one's own efforts to alleviate them are likely an important predictor of willingness to support environmental protections. Drawing on cross-disciplinary theory and research, I argue that whether individuals' social trust translates into willingness to sacrifice for environmental protections depends both on their own social trust and a culture of trust. I test this proposition using cross-national data from the International Social Survey Programme's Environment III survey. In societies characterized by a culture of high trust, those individuals reporting high social trust are considerably more willing to support environmental protections in these ways. However, in those characterized by a culture of low social trust environments, the relationship between high trust and willingness is dampened. The findings highlight that while there is a positive relationship between social trust and willingness, this relationship likely depends on cultural trust.

Social Trust in Polarized Times: How Perceptions of Political Polarization Affect Americans' Trust in Each Other

Most Americans think that the country is politically divided and polarization will only get worse, not better. Such perceptions of polarization are widespread, but we do not know enough about their effects, especially those unrelated to political variables. This study examines the consequences of perceived polarization for levels of social trust in the United States. Trust in fellow citizens is the backbone of a well-functioning democracy, given its role in promoting social cohesion and facilitating collective action. Using nationally representative panel data, as well as an original survey experiment, I find that perceived polarization directly undermines Americans' trust in each other. A belief that members of society share common values fosters social trust, but perceptions of partisan divisions and polarization make people less trusting of their fellow citizens. Due to perceived polarization, people are less likely to believe that others can be trusted to do the right thing, which in turn decreases their willingness to cooperate for good causes. I discuss the implications of these findings for society's ability to work together toward common goals.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-022-09787-1.

Social and Political Trust in a Low Trust Society

We study the causal relationship between social and political trust in a low trust society, a setting where this topic has received very little attention. We focus on contemporary Chile, a relatively consolidated new democracy lacking many of the conditions that fosters trust such as high socioeconomic equality, weak social divisions, or universal welfare policies. Our empirical analysis is based on a 4-wave panel survey applied to a representative sample of 2000 Chilean adults interviewed face to face each year between 2016 and 2019. Based on statistical models with varying specifications and assumptions, we find support for the institutionalist view that claims that political trust exercises a positive influence over social trust. However, contrary to recent findings for some European democracies (Sønderskov & Dinesen 2016, Seifert 2018), we also find that social trust positively affects political trust. Our results suggest that the positive relationship between both types of trust travels to different political settings, and that there is no minimum threshold required in levels of trust for this relationship to emerge.

Demand for mitigating the risk of COVID-19 infection in public transport: The role of social trust and fatalistic beliefs

The rapid surge of COVID-19 cases worldwide drew attention to COVID-19 infection as a new source of risk in transport. The virus introduced a need for viral transmission mitigation as a major priority when selecting a mode of travel, and caused a significant drop in public transport use. The recovery of public transport use in the post-COVID period requires that the transport authorities favourably address people's demand for mitigation of the risk of COVID-19 transmission in public transport. The present study aims to explore the role of risk perception, worry and priority of COVID-19 risk reduction along with fatalistic beliefs and public trust in authorities in explaining public demand for risk mitigation. The present study is among the first to investigate the role of fatalistic beliefs, social trust and risk perception for public transport and public demand for risk mitigation. The link between priority of infection prevention and demand for risk mitigation has also been less explored in public transport research. An online survey was conducted among university students in Iran between 19th April and 16th June 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, when the country was a major epicentre of the disease. A total of 271 out of 370 respondents whose dominant mode on university travels was public transport were included in the analysis. Results of structural equation modelling confirmed the paradox of trust, indicating that social trust is negatively associated with perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, which in turn may lead people to place less importance on COVID-19 prevention as a priority in travel mode choice, and consequently demand less risk mitigation efforts to prevent COVID-19 infection in public transport. Dissimilar to trust, however, the results revealed no relationship between fatalistic beliefs and risk perception, but a significant direct effect of fatalistic beliefs on demand for risk mitigation. To reinforce public demand for mitigating the risk of COVID-19 in public transport, the study calls on policymakers to exploit public trust resources for more effective risk communication, through disseminating the gradually accumulating evidence-based information regarding the infectivity and the virulence of COVID-19 and the scientific risk of infection. The study also underlined the potential importance of considering fatalistic beliefs when developing effective risk communication policies and practices to enhance public support for COVID-19 risk mitigation in public transport.

COVID-19 vulnerability and perceived norm violations predict loss of social trust: A pre-post study

While pandemic containment measures benefit public health, they may jeopardize the social structure of society. We hypothesize that lockdowns and prolonged social distancing measures hinder social support and invite norm violations, eroding social trust. We conducted a pre-registered pre-post study on a representative sample of the Dutch population (n = 2377; participation rate = 88.8%), measuring social trust reported by the same individuals before and after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that social trust in the Netherlands suddenly dropped from its historically stable level, reaching one of its lowest points on record. The decline was stronger among residents belonging to official high-risk categories, especially if they perceived themselves as likely to become infected. Individuals who more strongly agreed with self-isolation norms or did not perceive a widespread compliance or agreement with such norms also reported a greater loss of trust.

The role of online news and social media in preventive action in times of infodemic from a social capital perspective: The case of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea

Infodemic, the spread of false information during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been raised as one of the major concerns aggravating the confusion in the global society. In this regard, the role of media as an information channel in delivering the reliable information and motivating the active participation of citizens in complying with government's preventive actions becomes much more important. In this study, the role of online news and social media on people's preventive actions considering the role of trust in citizens and government from the perspective of social capital is investigated. For the empirical study, a structural equation modeling is employed by using survey material gathered from South Korea in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak. South Korea was selected as its COVID-19 prevention strategy focused not only on the provision of medical support, but also on the enhancement of social trust through active engagement with people through media channels. Our results reveal that the perceived characteristics of online news and social media influence preventive actions through the trust in citizens or in government. In addition, while online news media enhances trust in both the citizens and the government, social media only influences trust in citizens. Based on our findings, the role of media in preventing the spread of COVID-19 is dicussed.

Can the social trust promote corporate green innovation? Evidence from China

Corporate green innovation has played a crucial role in balancing profitability and environmental protection. The existing research on determinant factors of green innovation has its main defects in emphasizing excessively enterprise's formal institutional environment and neglecting the informal institutional environment, causing an incomplete understanding of the relationship between institutional environments and corporate green innovation. To bridge this gap, using a sample of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed firms in manufacturing industry during the period of 2010-2016, we investigate how social trust, an important informal institutions, affects corporate green innovation. Our results show that social trust is positively associated with green innovation, remaining valid after applying endogenous and robustness tests. In addition, the positive relationship between social trust and green innovation is more prominent when the enterprise is non-state-owned or locates in a looser command-and-control (CAC) environmental regulations region. Further analysis shows that social trust boosts corporate green innovation via promoting knowledge sharing, decreasing financing constraints, and fulfilling more corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper enriches the literature concerning social trust and green innovation and draws back more public attention on the role of informal institutions play in promoting green innovation.

Access to HPV vaccination in Japan: Increasing social trust to regain vaccine confidence

Vaccine hesitancy is a growing concern in global public health, and illustrates serious problems arising from loss of social trust. Japan is experiencing a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine crisis that started with a rapid decline in the vaccination rate in 2013 from approximately 70% to less than 1% and lasting for 7 years. We analyze Japan's case of vaccine hesitancy for HPV vaccine, using a framework for examining barriers to access and use of health technologies according to four categories: architecture, availability, affordability, and adoption. Significant problems were identified in the architecture of the decision-making body, public information availability, adoption of evidence in policy-making process, knowledge and confidence among providers, education to the public, and communication with end-users. We propose a series of actions to address these barriers. The national government should diversify the advisory committee to include broader scientific evidence and various viewpoints. Municipalities should actively distribute information cooperating with local providers. Professional associations should create an alliance to influence policy makers and deliver education to health care providers and end-users. Politicians should integrate opinions from citizens and scientists to implement an up-to-date policy. Civil society should share individual stories from cervical cancer patients and positive experiences of vaccinated girls. Mass media should use more diverse sources of information to report more comprehensive and science-based views. These actions would help build mutual trust among stakeholders, which is required to increase social trust in the HPV vaccine in Japan and thereby regain vaccine confidence and reduce preventable deaths and complications.

The institutional foundations of surf break governance in Atlantic Europe

The sport of surfing is best enjoyed with one rider on one wave, but crowding makes that optimal assignment increasingly hard to attain. This study examines the phenomenon of surf localism, whereby competitors are excluded from waves by intimidation and the threat of violence. An alternative way to accommodate crowds is contained in the surfer's code, which sets informal rules and self-enforced regulations to avoid conflict in the water. Both regimes establish property rights over common pool resources with no state intervention, creating a setting wherein users face the question of cooperation or conflict. The disposition to cooperate and follow norms has been shown to vary substantially across different cultures, though. Employing data from over seven hundred surf spots on the European Atlantic coast, this study reports evidence that certain informal cultural norms significantly reduce the probability of violent exclusion, while formal state institutions mostly are irrelevant. The results also indicate that informal norms become more important with greater resource quality and, possibly, with increasing scarcity.

Too unwell to trust? The effect of mental health on social trust in Europe

Social trust is often thought to be adversely affected by mental health problems. However, rigorous causal evidence required to substantiate this thought is scarce. Here I examine the causal effect of individuals' mental health on social trust using data from the European Social Survey. Estimating the causal effect, however, is a formidable task since the relationship between mental health and social trust is endogenous due to reverse causality and unmeasured confounding. I circumvent these difficulties by using a recently developed econometric technique that does not rely on valid exclusion restriction for identification. I find strong evidence that mental ill health has a significant negative effect on social trust. Further, I provide suggestive evidence which shows that the adverse effect of mental ill health on social trust arises due to reductions in individuals' level of optimism and hope, and participation in social networks caused by mental ill health. Overall, the results suggest that for achieving a durable increase in social trust - which often is one of the fundamental objectives of policy makers - interventions to promote mental health of individuals could be extremely useful.

A cross-sectional national survey to explore the relationship between smoking and political abstention: Evidence of social mistrust as a mediator

Rationale

Smoking prevalence is well known to vary socioeconomically but has been less studied in relation to political participation. Growing evidence suggests that health disparities and political nonparticipation are intertwined, but the underlying mechanism is unclear.

Objective

We investigated the relationship between smoking and voter registration, testing various forms of trust as possible mediators, in U.S. national survey data collected around the 2012 presidential election.

Methods

A random half (n = 9757) of adults who completed The Attitudes and Behaviors Survey on Health (TABS) in 2012 (response rate was 58.4% for landline and 24.3% for cell phone) also answered a section on voter registration, voting behavior, and trust in people and selected institutions. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between smoking and registering to vote and potential mediation by trust in people and various institutions, adjusted for covariates known to be associated with both. Analyses used design-based methods with weights to account for sampling probabilities, nonresponse, and calibration to the U.S. adult population in 2012.

Results

Compared with nonsmokers, daily smokers had significantly lower adjusted odds of being registered to vote (aOR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.21–0.52) and higher adjusted odds of having low trust in people (aOR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.29–4.83). Low trust in people predicted lower odds of registering to vote (aOR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36 to 0.84) and partially mediated the smoking-registration relationship.

Conclusion

Lower electoral participation among daily smokers is partly attributable to lower trust in people, a factor that could also affect willingness to use cessation support resources such as quitlines. Low trust and low political participation among daily smokers may have important political and public health consequences.

•

Smoking behavior and political participation are closely related.

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Daily smokers were less likely to register to vote and to vote.

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Lower electoral participation is partly attributable to lower trust in people.

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Smokers' abstention from electoral decisions may bias public health policymaking.

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Cessation programs should reduce stigmatization and promote trust among smokers.

Are regions equal in adversity? A spatial analysis of spread and dynamics of COVID-19 in Europe

Often presented as a global pandemic spreading all over the world, COVID-19, however, hit not only countries but also regions differently. The objective of this paper is to focus on the spatial heterogeneity in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and to contribute to an understanding of the channels by which it spread, focusing on the regional socioeconomic dimension. For this, we use a dataset covering 125 European regions in 12 countries. Considering that the impact of the COVID-19 crisis differed sharply not only across countries but also across regions within the same country, the empirical strategy is based, on the one hand, on an exploratory analysis of spatial autocorrelations, which makes it possible to identify regional clusters of the disease. On the other hand, we use spatial regression models to capture the diffusion effect and the role of different families of regional factors in this process. We find that the share of older people in the population, GDP per capita, distance from achieving EU objectives, and the unemployment rate are correlated with high COVID-19 death rates. In contrast, the number of medical practitioners and hospital beds and the level of social trust are correlated with low COVID-19 death rates.

Understanding adolescents' perceived social responsibility: The role of family cohesion, interdependent self-construal, and social trust

INTRODUCTION

Positive family interactions contribute to the development of social responsibility among adolescents. Interdependent self-construal and social trust, which reflect the perceived relatedness and beliefs towards others, may explain the relation between family cohesion and social responsibility. The present study tested the mediating mechanisms between family cohesion and adolescents' social responsibility via adolescents' interdependent self-construal and social trust.

METHODS

A total of 386 Chinese children in Hong Kong (52.07% girls, M_age = 13.64 years) and their parents completed self-report questionnaires twice at 12 months apart. Family cohesion was measured by mothers', fathers', and adolescents' reports to provide a comprehensive representation of the family environment. A structural equation modeling was conducted to investigate the mediation effect.

RESULTS

Findings based on structural equation modeling revealed that family cohesion was positively associated with interdependent self-construal and social trust. In addition, adolescents' interdependent self-construal and social trust were positively associated with social responsibility. Bootstrapping analysis showed that interdependent self-construal and social trust were mediators between family cohesion and social responsibility.

CONCLUSION

Based on these findings, the study added new evidence to the literature by demonstrating the mediating role of interdependent self-construal and social trust between family cohesion and social responsibility. Future studies could examine potential cultural variabilities in Western and other Chinese contexts.

Social trust and emotional health in rural older adults in China: the mediating and moderating role of subjective well-being and subjective social status

BACKGROUND

China is becoming an aging society. The emotional health of the elderly is gaining importance. Social trust is an important factor affecting emotional health, but existing studies have rarely considered the various effects of different types of social trust on rural elderly emotional health. Few studies have analysed the role of subjective well-being and subjective social status in the relationship between social trust and elderly emotional health.

METHODS

Using the data of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey 2016 (CLDS 2016) and regression models, this study selected 2084 rural respondents aged 60 years and above to analyse the impact of social trust on their emotional health. Social trust was divided into three categories: trust in family members, trust in friends, and trust in neighbours. This study also examined the mediating and moderating effects of subjective well-being and subjective social status on the relationship between social trust and emotional health.

RESULTS

Trust in family members was significantly and positively associated with emotional health (coefficient = 0.194, P < 0.01) and subjective well-being (coefficient = 0.177, P < 0.01). Trust in friends was significantly and positively associated with emotional health and subjective well-being (coefficient = 0.097, P < 0.01; coefficient = 0.174, P < 0.01, respectively). Trust in neighbours was significantly and positively associated with emotional health and subjective well-being (coefficient = 0.088, P < 0.01; coefficient = 0.177, P < 0.01; respectively). Subjective well-being effectively reduced the impact of social trust in family, friends, and neighbours on the emotional health of the elderly by 0.023, 0.022, and 0.023, respectively. Trust in friends and neighbours significantly and positively affected respondents' subjective social status (coefficient = 0.120, P < 0.05; coefficient = 0.090, P < 0.10; respectively). Subjective social status effectively reduced the impact of social trust in friends and neighbours on the emotional health of the elderly both by 0.004. The positive relationship between trust in family members and emotional health is weakened by subjective well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

Social trust, especially family relationships, play an important role in maintaining the emotional health of the rural elderly. In response to population ageing, more social policies must be introduced to care for the rural elderly and help them lead a happy and satisfactory life.

In education we trust: on handling the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Swedish welfare state

Keeping schools open was an active strategy in Sweden to meet the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article we analyze how a collection of welfare state agents with different tasks, resources and interests in interaction formed an assemblage in their responses to the pandemic and how education thereby became part of a strategy to keep the society going. The inquiries concern what this tells us about education as framed and constrained as a part of society. Our observations are based on statements presented by the government and public agencies, mass media and websites. We identified an assemblage of interwoven agents such as institutions, laws, regulations and recommendations, pandemic manuals, statistics and media. All these were brought together by actions and ideas to handle a pandemic when there were no preventive vaccines. The overarching principle was to educate the population to competent actions in dealing with the pandemic. To keep schools open was part of that principle combined with caretaking ambitions. This assemblage looked like a centralistic machine but it was not; risks were pushed back to local authorities and schools. In conclusion, we note that education is vital in the overarching strategy to deal with the pandemic in Sweden in terms of trust in people and governmentality.

Experiences matter: A longitudinal study of individual-level sources of declining social trust in the United States

The US has experienced a substantial decline in social trust in recent decades. Surprisingly few studies analyze whether individual-level explanations can account for this decrease. We use three-wave panel data from the General Social Survey (2006-2014) to study the effects of four possible individual-level sources of changes in social trust: job loss, social ties, income, and confidence in political institutions. Findings from fixed-effects linear regression models suggest that all but social ties matter. We then use 1973-2018 GSS data to predict trust based on observed values for unemployment, confidence in institutions, and satisfaction with income, versus an alternative counterfactual scenario in which the values of those three predictors are held constant at their mean levels in the early 1970s. Predicted values from these two scenarios differ substantially, suggesting that decreasing confidence in institutions and increasing unemployment scarring may explain about half of the observed decline in US social trust.

The effect of self-rated health, subjective socioeconomic status, social capital, and physical activity on life satisfaction: a cross-sectional study in urban western Iran

BACKGROUND

Life satisfaction is an important component in designing strategies to improve health outcomes in different groups of society. This study aimed to investigate the effect of subjective socioeconomic status (SSS), social capital (SC), self-rated health (SRH), and physical activity (PA) on life satisfaction (LS) in Iran.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1187 people (643 men and 544 women) lived in five western cities in Iran. The sampling method was multistage clustering. Data collection tool was a five part questionnaire including demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status ladder, social capital scale, a question to measure physical activity, and the life satisfaction scale. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, one way ANOVA, and Ordinal Logistic Regression.

RESULT

Life satisfaction was higher in married men and women compared to single and widows (p < 0.05). Among the variables included in the main model, the significant predictors were college education (- 0.500), marriage (coefficient = 0.422), age 25-34 years (coefficient = - 0.384), SRH (coefficient = 0.477), male sex (coefficient = 0.425), SSS (coefficient = 0.373), trust (coefficient = 0.115), and belonging and empathy (coefficient = 0.064).

CONCLUSION

SRH and SSS were significant predictors of life satisfaction in west Iranian society. Being married was associated with higher LS, but college education affects LS adversely.

Understanding risk perception from floods: a case study from China

Understanding and improving the public risk perception have become an important element in the management of flood risk. In China, the risk government is of so-called nationwide catastrophe response mode which is different from the widely adopted "bottom up" risk governance mode in the Western countries. Such a particular mode may make Chinese people perceive risk in a different way from people in other countries. Hence, a further discussion of risk perception is of great value in China. This paper presents a case study on the public perception of flood hazard and flood risk in a city prone to floods. The relationship between risk perception and exposure was examined by spatial analysis. Meanwhile, inferential testing with chi-squared tests was undertaken regarding experience, social trust, and protective behaviors. Our results suggest that (1) the relationship between exposure and risk perception of people in Nanjing is positive and statistically significant, (2) flood experience was strongly related to risk perception, (3) trust showed a significant relationship to risk perception, and (4) people who have perceived the probability of floods and associated loss of life have a higher willingness to take more protective measures. These findings will help local government to develop effective flood risk communication strategies for improving public awareness creation, emergency response and preparedness.

How important is social trust during the COVID-19 crisis period? Evidence from the Fed announcements

During the COVID-19 crisis period, firms headquartered in high social trust US states perform better than their counterparts from the low social trust states. Stock returns over the crisis period are 3 to 4 percentage points higher, on average, if social trust increases by one standard deviation. The association is stronger for firms of more affected industries (COVID-19 industries). More specifically, a one standard deviation increase of social trust associates with a 6.45% increase of C A R if firms belong to the COVID-19 industries. Next, I analyze the stock market reactions to the Fed's announcements on March 23, 2020. The results show that firms headquartered in the high trust states benefit less from the announcements because these firms can access to other external financings cheaply. The average three-day announcement C A R and B H A R (FF 3-factor adjusted) are higher by 2.5% and 2.6% respectively if firms headquartered in low trust states.

Association between social trust and the risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults in Korea: a nationwide retrospective cohort study

Background

Although social capital has been shown to be one of the important social determinants of health, the association between social trust and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is not clear yet. We aimed to investigate the association of social trust with CVD risk using a large Korean population based data.

Methods

The data of this study was derived from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Community-level social trust was determined from the Korean Community Health Survey. The study population consisted of 2,156,829 participants. According to social trust index measured in the area of residence during 2011, participants were followed-up from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine the adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for CVD risk according to quintiles of social trust.

Results

Compared to participants with the lowest quintile of social trust, those within the highest quintile had lower risk for CVD (aHR 0.91, 95% CI = 0.89 to 0.93), CHD (aHR 0.92, 95% CI = 0.89 to 0.95), and stroke (aHR 0.90, 95% CI = 0.87 to 0.93). The risk-reducing association of high social trust on CVD risk was preserved after additional adjustments for lifestyle behaviors including smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.

Conclusion

Higher social trust was associated with reduced risk of CVD even after considering lifestyle behaviors. Social trust in a community level is an important determinant of CVD and enhancing social trust may lead to reduced risk of CVD.

Association of community level social trust and reciprocity with mortality: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Whether community level social capital is associated with mortality within an Asian population is yet unclear.

METHODS

The study population was derived from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort. A total of 636,055 participants were followed-up during 2012-2013 for deaths from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and other causes. Community level social trust and reciprocity at the administrative district level were derived from the Korean Community Health Survey. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine the adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mortality according to levels of community level social trust and reciprocity.

RESULTS

Compared to participants who reside in areas within the lower half of community level social trust, those who reside in areas within the upper half had lower risk of death from all causes (aHR 0.84, 95% CI 0.78-0.89), CVD (aHR 0.82, 95% CI 0.67-0.99), and cancer (aHR 0.85, 95% CI 0.73-0.98). Similarly, residing in areas in the upper half of community level social reciprocity was associated with reduced risk for all-cause mortality (aHR 0.80, 95% CI 0.75-0.86). The protective association of high community level social trust and reciprocity on mortality remained after additional adjustments for smoking, alcohol intake, and physical activity.

CONCLUSIONS

Residing in areas with high community level social trust and reciprocity may be associated with better population health status.

Social trust and health seeking behaviours: A longitudinal study of a community-based active tuberculosis case finding program in the Philippines

Introduction

Social trust is an important driver of health seeking behaviours and plays a particularly important role for diseases that have a high degree of stigma associated with them, such as tuberculosis (TB). Individuals experiencing poverty also face additional social and financial barriers in accessing care for TB. We examined an active case finding (ACF) initiative embedded in a program targeting those living in poverty (Transform) implemented by International Care Ministries (ICM), a Philippine-based non-governmental organization (NGO), and analyzed how different forms of social trust may affect the initial uptake of ACF.

Methods

Program monitoring data and a cross-sectional survey conducted at the beginning of Transform included six dimensions of social trust: satisfaction with family life, satisfaction with friendships, and level of trust in relatives, neighbours, pastor or religious leader, and local government officials. Amongst individuals suspected of having TB who received referrals post-screening, multilevel modelling examined the effects of social trust on rural health unit (RHU) attendance.

Results

Among the subset of 3350 individuals who received TB screening in 51 communities, 889 (26.5%) were symptom positive and required referral to the RHU, but only 24.1% of those who received referrals successfully attended the RHU. Multilevel regression analysis showed that for each unit increase on the Likert scale in baseline level of family satisfaction and level of trust in relatives, the odds of attending an RHU was 1.03 times (95% CI: 0.99, 1.07) and 1.06 times greater (95% CI: 1.00, 1.11), respectively, independent of other factors.

Conclusion

These results suggest that social trust in family members could play a valuable role in addressing stigma and rejection, both cited as barriers to higher screening rates. It is recommended that ACF programs that target TB, or other diseases that are stigmatized, prioritize trust-building as an important component of their intervention.

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Role of social trust on health clinic attendance among extreme poor examined.

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Effect of five relationship types in supporting tuberculosis testing explored.

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Trust in family relationships predicted greater health clinic testing.

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Health interventions for stigmatized diseases should prioritize trust-building.

Social trust in the midst of pandemic crisis: Implications from COVID-19 of South Korea

This study aims to exploit the situations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in South Korea to identify the causal effect of a pandemic crisis and institutional responses on social trust. With unique panel data collected in the course of the COVID-19 in South Korea and the use of individual fixed-effects models, we examined how social trust in various social institutions changed and identified a causal effect of crisis management on social trust. According to the results, trust in South Korean society, people, and the central and local governments improved substantially, whereas trust in judicature, the press, and religious organizations sharply decreased. Improvement in trust in the central and local governments was associated with proactive responses to the pandemic crisis, and failure to take appropriate actions was responsible for the deteriorating trust in religious organizations. These findings illustrate the importance of risk management in trust formation and imply that South Korea may be transforming from a low-trust to a high-trust society.

Social trust predicts sleep disorder at 6 years after the Great East Japan earthquake: data from a prospective cohort study

Background

The physical and psychological health impacts on victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) have lasted for a long time. Some cross-sectional studies have reported a relationship between social networks and/or social support and mental health among victims. Previous studies were cross-sectional observations at one time point after a disaster, it remains unclear whether the lack of social trust soon after the GEJE predicts long-term mental health outcomes among the victims. The objective of the present study was to examine prospectively the association between social trust soon after the GEJE and trends in sleep disorders up to 6 years after the GEJE.

Methods

We conducted a health survey on residents living in two areas affected by the GEJE. We analyzed data from 1293 adults (aged ≥18 years) who had participated in an initial health survey. The participants responded to a self-administrated questionnaire composed of items on health condition, mental health, including sleep disorders (based on the Athens Insomnia Scale [AIS]), and social trust. We classified the participants into two categories (high or low) based on the level of social trust at the first health survey. A linear mixed model was used to estimate trends in AIS scores in relation to social trust at the first health survey.

Results

The AIS scores of participants in the low social trust group were significantly higher than those in the high social trust group throughout the 6 years after the GEJE (P < 0.01). After adjusting for some covariates, the AIS score estimate for the participants who had low social trust was 1.30 point higher than those for the participants who had high social trust.

Conclusion

Social trust at 3 to 5 months after the GEJE predicted AIS scores at 6 years after the GEJE among victims. This finding suggests that it may be possible to identify people who have a lower potential for mental resilience from disaster damage over the long term. Further, health interventions for this high-risk group could help promote resilience after a disaster.

Trust in early childhood

Children need to build trust in their primary caregivers or significant others, as well as people who are unrelated to them, including those who belong to different social groups. The present chapter focuses on children's trust in unfamiliar individuals. How do they determine who to trust? Does putting trust in another person operate differently depending on the specific issue at hand? To address these questions, we differentiate between two forms of trust: children's trust in others' epistemic states to learn from others (epistemic trust) and trusting others for social support and reassurance (social trust), for example, when to expect that interaction partners will be truthful and keep promises. We first review the literature on epistemic trust to show that young children seem to value others' accuracy and competence when learning from them, even when these individuals are from different linguistic or racial groups than their own. We then present findings on social trust suggesting that young children trust those who are well-meaning and who keep their promises. Finally, we raise the question of whether there are environmental influences on the interaction of both epistemic and social trust with intergroup factors such as race, and we propose that research with infants will be useful to better illuminate the developmental roots of human trust.

The importance of social capital for young People's active transport and independent mobility in rural Otago, New Zealand

Social capital influences adolescents' licenses for active transport and independent mobility, through parental decision making and safety concerns, and may contribute to increasing adolescents' physical activity. Drawing on 20 parental interviews and 11 focus groups (73 adolescents) from rural New Zealand, this paper shows the importance of social capital and social trust for active transport and independent mobility in an under researched rural context. Change over time in social capital, social trust and parental safety concerns limited adolescents' active transport and independent mobility. Health policy should incorporate social capital measures to increase adolescents' active transport, independent mobility and physical activity.

Does your neighborhood protect you from being depressed? A study on social trust and depression in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

Prevalence of depression in Indonesia is estimated at about 3.7% of the total population, although the actual may be higher. Studies worldwide have linked the environment where people live to their mental health status. However, little research is found in Indonesia regarding this link. We examined the association between individuals' perception towards their neighborhood and their depression symptoms.

METHODS

Social trust was measured at the individual (level 1) and community (level 2) levels based on the Indonesian Family Life Survey 5 (IFLS5) in 2014. Depression was measured using the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale Revised (CESD-R-10) and the scores were transformed into logit form using the Rasch model. Multilevel regression was used to determine correlations.

RESULTS

Of the total sample of 14,227 respondents in this study, about 19.4% had experienced severe depression symptoms in the past week. Social trust was found to be significantly associated with severe depression symptoms. The weaker the individuals' social trust towards their neighbourhood, the higher the probability of experiencing severe depression symptoms would be.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that social trust is associated with the severity of depression symptoms: the higher the social trust, the lower the probability of having severe depression symptoms is. Depression symptoms may also be attributed to significant differences between communities.

The importance of social capital for young People's active transport and independent mobility in rural Otago, New Zealand

Social capital influences adolescents' licenses for active transport and independent mobility, through parental decision making and safety concerns, and may contribute to increasing adolescents' physical activity. Drawing on 20 parental interviews and 11 focus groups (73 adolescents) from rural New Zealand, this paper shows the importance of social capital and social trust for active transport and independent mobility in an under researched rural context. Change over time in social capital, social trust and parental safety concerns limited adolescents' active transport and independent mobility. Health policy should incorporate social capital measures to increase adolescents' active transport, independent mobility and physical activity.

Social capital and physical health: An updated review of the literature for 2007-2018

PURPOSE

Social capital is frequently indicated as a determinant of population health. Despite an increase in the frequency of public health studies including such measures, our understanding of social capital's effects on health remains unclear. In 2008, a systematic review of the "first decade" of research on social capital and health was published in the textbook Social Capital and Health. Our study intends to update and expand upon this original review to account for developments in the literature over the second decade of research on social capital and health.

METHODS

We employed a systematic review of empirical studies investigating the relationship between measures of social capital and physical health outcomes published between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2018. To identify potential studies, we conducted searches of PubMed, Embase, and PsychINFO databases in January 2019 using combinations of "social capital" and "physical health" search terms.

RESULTS

We identified 1,608 unique articles and reviewed 145 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. The most frequently examined health condition was self-reported health (57%), followed by mortality (12%), cardiovascular diseases (10%), obesity (7%), diabetes (6%), infectious diseases (5%), and cancers (3%). Of these studies, 127 (88%) reported at least partial support for a protective association between social capital and health. However, only 41 (28%) reported exclusively positive findings. The majority (59%) of results were mixed, suggesting a nuanced relationship between social capital and health. This finding could also be indicative of differences in study design, which showed substantial variation.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite limitations in the literature, our review chronicles an evolution in the field of social capital and health in terms of size and sophistication. Overall, these studies suggest that social capital may be an important protective factor for some physical health outcomes, but further research is needed to confirm and clarify these findings.

The Impact of Perceived Teacher Support on Anti-Immigrant Attitudes from Early to Late Adolescence

Although research has shown that school context has consequences for intergroup attitudes, few studies have examined the role of teacher qualities, such as teacher support. In addition, previous research has paid limited attention to the mechanisms that could help to explain teacher effects. This 5-wave study (2010–2015) examined the effects of perceived teacher support on the anti-immigrant attitudes of Swedish majority youth (N = 671, M_age = 13.41, 50.2% girls, 34 classrooms). It also tested whether social trust would mediate these effects. The results of multilevel analyses showed that perceived teacher support was associated with less prejudice at all levels of analysis. At the within-person level, fluctuations in teacher support were related to fluctuations in youth prejudice: in years when, on average, adolescents perceived their teachers as more supportive, they reported lower prejudice. At the between-person level, adolescents who perceived their teachers as more supportive compared to their peers reported lower prejudice. Similarly, classrooms where students shared an experience of teacher support were lower in prejudice than classrooms with weaker teacher support. The results also showed that social trust explained teacher effects: adolescents who experienced their teachers as more supportive displayed higher levels of trust and, in turn, lower levels of prejudice than youth with less supportive teachers. These findings suggest that teachers can counteract the development of prejudice and facilitate social trust in adolescents by being supportive of them.

Immigration, social trust, and the moderating role of value contexts

This study examines whether the values prevalent in one's social environment moderate the link between immigration-related ethnic diversity and social trust. Drawing on arguments related to intergroup relations and anomie, we expect that contexts characterized by a comparatively high degree of openness mitigate a trust-eroding effect of immigration. In contrast, we expect that contexts of low openness or high conservation may reinforce a trust-eroding effect. We test these propositions using survey data from Europe and the United States merged with regional indicators on immigration and value contexts. The results show that high levels of contextual openness attenuate trust-eroding consequences of immigration growth. With regard to mechanisms, we find that contextual openness moderates how change in immigration relates to generalized forms of trust rather than outgroup trust. This points to an overall anomie-reducing function of openness norms, especially in times of ethnic change.

Social cohesion, social trust, social participation and sexual behaviors of adolescents in rural Tanzania

Background

Social cohesion, defined as a glue holding society together, has been found to influence several aspects of human behavior. Social cohesion, being composed of social trust and social participation, is a social factor that may influence sexual behaviors. Unfortunately, studies investigating the influence of social cohesion on sexual behaviors among young people are scarce. This study examined the influence of social cohesion on safe sexual behavior among adolescents in rural Tanzania.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 school adolescents of the Newala district, between May and August 2010. Socio-demographic characteristics, social cohesion (social trust and social participation) and sexual behavior (age at sexual debut, intention to use and reported condom use, number of sexual partners) were obtained through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression.

Results

Sexual debut at under 13 years of age was reported by 12% of the respondent. A majority (71%) reported multiple sexual partnerships and half of the participants reported to have used a condom at their last sexual encounter. The intention to use a condom was reported by 77% of the respondents. Having multiple sexual partnerships was associated with social trust only (odds ratio: 3.5, 95% CI 1.01–12.3) whereas reported condom use was related with social cohesion (odds ratio 4.8 95% CI 1.66–14.06). Social cohesion, trust or participation was not associated with young age at sexual debut or intention to use a condom. Being a female (odds ratio 2.07 95% CI 1.04–4.12.) was associated with intention to use a condom.

Conclusion

This study indicates that social cohesion and socio-demographic factors influence actual behavior performance and behavioral intentions. The findings point to the importance of collecting more evidence on social cohesion and sexual behaviors in different settings and designing interventions that enhance social cohesion among adolescents in order to reinforce positive sexual behaviors.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6428-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Association Between Social Network Factors with Depression and Anxiety at Different Life Stages

This study examines whether social network factors influence individual's depression and anxiety outcomes at different life stages. Data was drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. Hierarchical regression modelling was applied to examine the effects within and across different life stages. The depression and anxiety measures were taken from the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and the social network factors were taken from the self-completion questionnaire. With the exception of social trust in seniors, the social network factors were significant predictors of depression and anxiety. This has practical implications for the design of social policy initiatives.

Less equal, less trusting? Longitudinal and cross-sectional effects of income inequality on trust in U.S. States, 1973-2012

Does income inequality reduce social trust? Although both popular and scholarly accounts have argued that income inequality reduces trust, some recent research has been more skeptical, noting these claims are more robust cross-sectionally than longitudinally. Furthermore, although multiple mechanisms have been proposed for why inequality could affect trust, these have rarely been tested explicitly. I examine the effect of state-level income inequality on trust using the 1973-2012 General Social Surveys. I find little evidence that states that have been more unequal over time have less trusting people. There is some evidence that the growth in income inequality is linked with a decrease in trust, but these effects are sensitive to how time is accounted for. While much previous inequality and trust research has focused on status anxiety, this mechanism receives the little support, but mechanisms based on social fractionalization and on exploitation and resentment receive some support. This analysis improves on previous estimates of the effect of state-level inequality on trust by using far more available observations, accounting for more potential individual and state level confounders, and using higher-quality income inequality data based on annual IRS tax returns. It also contributes to our understanding of the mechanism(s) through which inequality may affect trust.

The predictors of earthquake preparedness in Tehran households

Background

The high risk of an earthquake happening and the harmful consequences that it leaves, besides the unsuccessful policies for preparing the community for mitigation, suggested that social factors should be considered more in this regard. Social trust is an influencing factor that can have significant impact on people’s behavior.

Objective

To determine the relationship of the influencing factors on the preparedness of Tehran households against earthquake.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study with 369 participants (February to April 2017) involved through stratified random sampling from selected urban districts of Tehran. The Persian version of an ‘Intention to be prepared’ measurement tool and a standard checklist of earthquake preparedness behaviors were used. The tool was evaluated for internal consistency and test-retest reliability in a pilot study (Cronbach’s α =0.94 and Intra Class Correlation Coefficient =0.92).

Results

Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that social trust is the most important predictor for the preparedness mean of changes in Tehran (R²=0.109, p<0.001, β: 0.187 for the Preparedness behavior; R²=0.117, β: 0.298, p<0.001 for Intention to be prepared; and R²=0.142, β: 0.345, p<0.001 for the Perceived preparedness).

Conclusion

The relationship between social trust and preparedness dimensions suggested that changing a social behavior is not possible through considering only individual characteristics of community members and not their social networks relations. The programs and policies which try to enhance the social trust in general, may be able to increase public preparedness against earthquakes in the future.

Social capital and health in China: exploring the mediating role of lifestyle

Background

Although social capital as a key determinant of health has been well established in various studies, little is known about how lifestyle factors mediate this relationship. Understanding the cross-relationships between social capital, health, and lifestyle factors is important if health promotion policies are to be effective. The purpose of this study is to explore whether different dimensions of social capital and lifestyle factors are related, and whether lifestyle factors mediate the association between social capital and self-rated health (SRH) and psychological well-being (PWB) in China.

Methods

This study used nationally representative data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (n = 28,916). The data reported on three dimensions of individual-level social capital: social trust, social relationship and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) membership. Health was assessed using SRH and PWB. Five lifestyle indicators were recorded: healthy diet, physical activity, smoking, sleeping, and non-overweight status. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between social capital and lifestyle factors, and whether there was a mediating role of lifestyle. Odds ratios relating health status to social capital were reported before and after adjustment for lifestyle factors. Mediation analysis was then used to calculate the total, direct and indirect effects of social capital on SRH and PWB.

Results

The results show that social trust was significantly associated with all five lifestyle factors. Social relationship was significantly associated with four of the five: healthy diet, physical activity, sleeping and non-overweight. CCP membership was only significantly associated with two lifestyle factors: physical activity and non-overweight. Social trust and social relationship were significantly related to both SRH and PWB. CCP membership was only significantly related to SRH. Mediation analysis found modest evidence that lifestyle factors influenced the relationship between all three types of social capital and SRH. In contrast, only social trust and social relationship, but not CCP membership, were mediated by lifestyle factors with respect to PWB.

Conclusions

This study is the first to explore the mediating role of lifestyle factors in the relationship between social capital and health in China. The overall findings suggest that lifestyle factors modestly mediate the association between social capital and health. The degree of mediating effect varies across different dimensions of social capital. Social capital-based health promotion policies would benefit from taking lifestyle factors into account.

Blindness and social trust: The effect of early visual deprivation on judgments of trustworthiness

Investigating the impact of early visual deprivation on evaluations related to social trust has received little attention to date. This is despite consistent evidence suggesting that early onset blindness may interfere with the normal development of social skills. In this study, we investigated whether early blindness affects judgments of trustworthiness regarding the actions of an agent, with trustworthiness representing the fundamental dimension in the social evaluation. Specifically, we compared performance between a group of early blind individuals with that of sighted controls in their evaluation of trustworthiness of an agent after hearing a pair of two positive or two negative social behaviors (impression formation). Participants then repeated the same evaluation following the presentation of a third (consistent or inconsistent) behavior regarding the same agent (impression updating). Overall, blind individuals tended to give similar evaluations compared to their sighted counterparts. However, they also valued positive behaviors significantly more than sighted controls when forming their impression of an agent's trustworthiness. Moreover, when inconsistent information was provided, blind individuals were more prone to revise their initial evaluation compared to controls. These results suggest that early visual deprivation may have a dramatic effect on the evaluation of social factors such as trustworthiness.