The association between family and community social capital and health risk behaviours in young people: an integrative review

Abstract

BackgroundHealth risk behaviours known to result in poorer outcomes in adulthood are generally established in late childhood and adolescence. These ‘risky’ behaviours include smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use and sexual risk taking. While the role of social capital in the establishment of health risk behaviours in young people has been explored, to date, no attempt has been made to consolidate the evidence in the form of a review. Thus, this integrative review was undertaken to identify and synthesise research findings on the role and impact of family and community social capital on health risk behaviours in young people and provide a consolidated evidence base to inform multi-sectorial policy and practice.MethodsKey electronic databases were searched (i.e. ASSIA, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts) for relevant studies and this was complemented by hand searching. Inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied and data was extracted from the included studies. Heterogeneity in study design and the outcomes assessed precluded meta-analysis/meta-synthesis; the results are therefore presented in narrative form.ResultsThirty-four papers satisfied the review inclusion criteria; most were cross-sectional surveys. The majority of the studies were conducted in North America (n=25), with three being conducted in the UK. Sample sizes ranged from 61 to 98,340. The synthesised evidence demonstrates that social capital is an important construct for understanding the establishment of health risk behaviours in young people. The different elements of family and community social capital varied in terms of their saliency within each behavioural domain, with positive parent–child relations, parental monitoring, religiosity and school quality being particularly important in reducing risk.ConclusionsThis review is the first to systematically synthesise research findings about the association between social capital and health risk behaviours in young people. While providing evidence that may inform the development of interventions framed around social capital, the review also highlights key areas where further research is required to provide a fuller account of the nature and role of social capital in influencing the uptake of health risk behaviours.

Understanding support network capacity during the transition from foster care: Youth-identified barriers, facilitators, and enhancement strategies

“…dolescent development is typically facilitated in the socioecological context of stable family, school, and community networks, which can ameliorate psychological and behavioral problems and promote well-being (Biglan, Flay, Embry, & Sandler, 2012; Brooks, Magnusson, Spencer, & Morgan, 2012; McPherson et al, 2013). Child welfare services are intended to support such development by connecting youth to comprehensive resources through a combination of services and informal support, including maintenance of ties to family and community of origin.…”

Examining the Relationship between Online Social Capital and eHealth Literacy: Implications for Instagram Use for Chronic Disease Prevention among College Students

“…17,18 A recent meta-analysis exploring the role of social capital in the health of children and adolescents (including college-aged adults) reported that greater social capital was associated with better health outcomes related to physical activity, nutrition, and alcohol, tobacco and other drug use. 19 In the college-aged population, high social capital promotes protective health behaviors, including safer sex practices and less binge drinking and illicit drug use. 20–22 Each of these health risk behaviors are linked to the development of various chronic diseases.…”

Relations of participation in organized activities to smoking and drinking among Japanese youth: contextual effects of structural social capital in high school

“…Understanding the potential determinants of health-risk behaviours such as smoking and drinking in young people is important for developing an effective prevention effort. In the field of public health, it is widely considered that social determinants play a significant role in health and health-related behaviours (McPherson et al 2013). Against this background, the present study focuses on social capital as an important social determinant of youth health-risk behaviours.…”

“…In general, it has been proposed that high levels of social capital might influence health-related behaviours by promoting rapid diffusion of health information, increasing adoption of healthy behavioural norms, and exerting informal social control over deviant behaviours (Kawachi and Berkman 2000). Social participation in young people might exert an especially high influence over health-risk behaviours through expectations about the behavioural norms of the group they participate in (McPherson et al 2013); more specifically, participation in extracurricular activities is the most influential activity for enhancing students' school connectedness and might serve as a social control function deterring them from delinquency (Moilanen et al 2014). This study simultaneously examined the effects of social participation at both individual and school levels on youth health-risk behaviours, such as cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking, by measuring aggregate student responses to participation in each school's organized activities.…”