Citation

Nie X, Zhu Y, Fu H, Dai J, Gao J. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018; 15(10): e15102249.

Affiliation

Department of Preventive Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China. jlgao@fudan.edu.cn.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph15102249

PMID

30326561

Abstract

Background: To determine the effects of social capital on harmful drinking (HD) among Chinese community residents using a multilevel study. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted from 2017⁻2018. In total, 13,610 participants were randomly interviewed from 29 districts of 3 cities in China with a multi-stage sampling procedure. Social capital, including social cohesion, membership in social organizations, and frequency of social participation, were assessed using validated scales. HD was assessed using the CAGE four-item questionnaire. Multilevel models were developed to determine whether social capital was related to HD when socioeconomic and demographic covariates were controlled. Results: In general, the prevalence of HD was 8.18%, and more specifically, 13.77% for men and 2.74% for women. After controlling for covariates and stratifying by gender, compared to residents in the low individual-level membership of social organizations, we found that the odds ratio (OR) for HD was 1.30 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.07⁻1.56 among men and 1.95 (95% CI: 1.29⁻2.97) among women. Compared to residents in the low individual-level frequency of social participation groups, the odds ratio of HD among women was 1.58 (95% CI: 1.10⁻2.26). There was no association between district-level social capital and HD. Conclusions: A high level of social capital may promote HD among the residents of Chinese neighborhoods. Intervention to modify social capital under the Chinese drinking culture may help reduce HD.

Language: en

Keywords

dark side; harmful drinking; multilevel modeling; neighborhood residents; social capital