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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on April 15, 2008
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(10):1152-1154; doi:10.1093/aje/kwn070
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American Journal of Epidemiology © The Author 2008. Published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Invited Commentary

Invited Commentary: Social Capital, Social Contexts, and Depression

Martin Lindström

From the Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

Correspondence to Dr. Martin Lindström, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö University Hospital, Lund University, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden (e-mail: martin.lindstrom{at}med.lu.se).

Received for publication February 5, 2008. Accepted for publication February 25, 2008.

The literature concerning social capital and health has grown exponentially during the past somewhat more than 10 years. The study by Kouvonen et al. (Am J Epidemiol 2008;167:1143–1151) is a longitudinal multilevel analysis of 33,577 public sector employees in Finland. The study shows a significant association between workplace social capital and depression, which is an interesting finding in a very new field of the study of social capital and health. However, the study also serves as an inspiration for further studies in important research areas. Workplace social capital may be investigated according to both horizontal, that is, social contacts and level of trust in relation to coworkers, and vertical, that is, relation with employer/supervisor across power gradients, dimensions. The fact that workplace social capital may affect social capital outside work and vice versa is also of interest. It is also important to define and identify the social context level in a correct way in multilevel studies. In the study by Kouvonen et al., the social context is not a geographic entity but an entity defined according to place of work, and the definition of such a social context entails several difficulties. This study presents interesting findings and provides a basis for future studies.

depression; mental health; psychology, social; workplace


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Related articles in Am. J. Epidemiol.:

Low Workplace Social Capital as a Predictor of Depression: The Finnish Public Sector Study
Anne Kouvonen, Tuula Oksanen, Jussi Vahtera, Mai Stafford, Richard Wilkinson, Justine Schneider, Ari Väänänen, Marianna Virtanen, Sara J. Cox, Jaana Pentti, Marko Elovainio, and Mika Kivimäki
Am. J. Epidemiol. 2008 167: 1143-1151. [Abstract] [FREE Full Text]  





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