Social capital, income inequality and the social gradient in self-rated health in Latin America : A fixed effects analysis
(2018) In Social Science and Medicine 196. p.115-122- Abstract
Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. The current sustainable development agenda increased attention to health inequity and its determinants in the region. Our aim is to investigate the social gradient in health in Latin America and assess the effects of social capital and income inequality on it. We used cross-sectional data from the World Values Survey and the World Bank. Our sample included 10,426 respondents in eight Latin American countries. Self-rated health was used as the outcome. Education level was the socioeconomic position indicator. We measured social capital by associational membership, civic participation, generalized trust, and neighborhood trust indicators at both individual and country levels. Income... (More)
Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. The current sustainable development agenda increased attention to health inequity and its determinants in the region. Our aim is to investigate the social gradient in health in Latin America and assess the effects of social capital and income inequality on it. We used cross-sectional data from the World Values Survey and the World Bank. Our sample included 10,426 respondents in eight Latin American countries. Self-rated health was used as the outcome. Education level was the socioeconomic position indicator. We measured social capital by associational membership, civic participation, generalized trust, and neighborhood trust indicators at both individual and country levels. Income inequality was operationalized using the Gini index at country-level. We employed fixed effects logistic regressions and cross-level interactions to assess the impact of social capital and income inequality on the heath gradient, controlling for country heterogeneity. Education level was independently associated with self-rated health, representing a clear social gradient in health, favoring individuals in higher socioeconomic positions. Generalized and neighborhood trust at country-level moderated the effect on the association between socioeconomic position and health, yet favoring individuals in lower socioeconomic positions, especially in lower inequality countries, despite their lower individual social capital. Our findings suggest that collective rather than individual social capital can impact the social gradient in health in Latin America, explaining health inequalities.
(Less)
- author
- Vincens, Natalia LU ; Emmelin, Maria LU and Stafström, Martin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-01-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Cross-level interactions, Fixed-effects, Health disparities, Income inequality, Latin America, Self-rated health, Social capital
- in
- Social Science and Medicine
- volume
- 196
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85034633847
- pmid:29175700
- ISSN
- 0277-9536
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.025
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 59ec7a72-d18b-4cf8-8dc3-2a0752245fe8
- date added to LUP
- 2017-12-07 12:12:54
- date last changed
- 2024-06-10 04:44:22
@article{59ec7a72-d18b-4cf8-8dc3-2a0752245fe8,
abstract = {{<p>Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. The current sustainable development agenda increased attention to health inequity and its determinants in the region. Our aim is to investigate the social gradient in health in Latin America and assess the effects of social capital and income inequality on it. We used cross-sectional data from the World Values Survey and the World Bank. Our sample included 10,426 respondents in eight Latin American countries. Self-rated health was used as the outcome. Education level was the socioeconomic position indicator. We measured social capital by associational membership, civic participation, generalized trust, and neighborhood trust indicators at both individual and country levels. Income inequality was operationalized using the Gini index at country-level. We employed fixed effects logistic regressions and cross-level interactions to assess the impact of social capital and income inequality on the heath gradient, controlling for country heterogeneity. Education level was independently associated with self-rated health, representing a clear social gradient in health, favoring individuals in higher socioeconomic positions. Generalized and neighborhood trust at country-level moderated the effect on the association between socioeconomic position and health, yet favoring individuals in lower socioeconomic positions, especially in lower inequality countries, despite their lower individual social capital. Our findings suggest that collective rather than individual social capital can impact the social gradient in health in Latin America, explaining health inequalities.</p>}},
author = {{Vincens, Natalia and Emmelin, Maria and Stafström, Martin}},
issn = {{0277-9536}},
keywords = {{Cross-level interactions; Fixed-effects; Health disparities; Income inequality; Latin America; Self-rated health; Social capital}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
pages = {{115--122}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Social Science and Medicine}},
title = {{Social capital, income inequality and the social gradient in self-rated health in Latin America : A fixed effects analysis}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.025}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.025}},
volume = {{196}},
year = {{2018}},
}