Objectives: This study attempts to create a bridge between the literature on immigration and on social capital and health. The objectives were two-fold: firstly, to provide new empirical evidence on the association between social capital and health, using data from Catalonia for the first time and, secondly, to explore the possible existence of a differential impact of social capital on health between native-born residents and immigrants. We also distinguished between individual and community-level social capital.
Methods: We used the 2006 Catalan Health Survey (ESCA 2006). To assess the relationship between social capital and mental health, we used multilevel models, estimated separately for native-born and immigrant residents.
Results: The results revealed a positive link between social capital and good mental health in Catalonia. However, this effect was stronger for individual than for community-level social capital. The results did not support the hypothesis of a differential impact between immigrants and native-born Catalans, but did indicate differences with respect to Spaniards born outside Catalonia. Geographic heterogeneity in the effect of individual social capital on mental health in both immigrants and native-born residents was also detected.
Conclusions: We believe that enhancing social capital could potentially be an effective policy tool to achieve objectives related to health status improvement.