| Social capital is a concept explored by researchers and scholars from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, management, economics, political science, and health. As with other forms of capital (e.g. financial capital, human capital), social capital is a resource drawn upon to aid productivity, and has been linked to community and economic development, good education, democracy, and health (Cook, 2000; Hawe & Shiell, 2000; Veenstra, 2000; Kawachi, Kennedy & Glass, 1999; Lomas, 1998; Kawachi, Kennedy, Lochner & Prothrow-Stith, 1997; Fukuyama, 1995; Putnam, 1993, 2000).;Similar to concepts like sense of community and community identity, social capital has been studied in relation to mortality, risk behavior, depression, and self-reported health status. These studies have concluded that higher social capital is positively correlated with good health and healthy behavior and negatively correlated with risky behavior, a variety of diseases, and depression.;If social capital proves to be an area that interventions can target for improvement, this may hold significant implications for health planning and programming in communities. This research has capitalized on the availability of social capital data collected from a diverse population in Texas in 2002 and 2006 to explore the quality of the measures used how social capital is affected by rural/urban status. Recognizing what influences the variations in social capital from community to community could enhance our understanding of how to better measure social capital and apply our findings to health improvement strategies.;Although a relatively young concept, social capital has emerged as a significant community characteristic to be considered in the study of population health. If what Putnam (2000) and Fukuyama (2005) argue is true and the U.S. is experiencing an ongoing decline in social capital, continuing to build our understanding of how social capital is produced and its effects may be of increasing importance in efforts to promote and maintain population health. |
