Social capital at work as a predictor of employee health: Multilevel evidence from work units in Finland

The majority of previous research on social capital and health is limited to social capital in residential neighborhoods and communities. Using data from the Finnish 10-Town study we examined social capital at work as a predictor of health in a cohort of 9524 initially healthy local government emplo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 2008-02, Vol.66 (3), p.637-649
Main Authors: Oksanen, Tuula, Kouvonen, Anne, Kivimäki, Mika, Pentti, Jaana, Virtanen, Marianna, Linna, Anne, Vahtera, Jussi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort analysis
Cultural Capital
Employment
Female
Finland
Finland - epidemiology
Finland Social capital Self-rated health Work Multilevel analysis
Government employees
Health
Health Behavior
Health Status
Humans
Local Government
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Multidimensional analysis
Multilevel analysis
Occupational Health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Residential areas
Self
Self-rated health
Social capital
Social Support
Studies
Work
Work Environment
Workers
Workplace - psychology
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Summary:The majority of previous research on social capital and health is limited to social capital in residential neighborhoods and communities. Using data from the Finnish 10-Town study we examined social capital at work as a predictor of health in a cohort of 9524 initially healthy local government employees in 1522 work units, who did not change their work unit between 2000 and 2004 and responded to surveys measuring social capital at work and health at both time-points. We used a validated tool to measure social capital with perceptions at the individual level and with co-workers’ responses at the work unit level. According to multilevel modeling, a contextual effect of work unit social capital on self-rated health was not accounted for by the individual's socio-demographic characteristics or lifestyle. The odds for health impairment were 1.27 times higher for employees who constantly worked in units with low social capital than for those with constantly high work unit social capital. Corresponding odds ratios for low and declining individual-level social capital varied between 1.56 and 1.78. Increasing levels of individual social capital were associated with sustained good health. In conclusion, this longitudinal multilevel study provides support for the hypothesis that exposure to low social capital at work may be detrimental to the health of employees.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.10.013