IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v18y2023i1d10.1007_s11482-022-10093-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mental Health, Material Possessions, and Social Capital During COVID-19: A Study of the United States Urban Working-Age Population

Author

Listed:
  • Haobin Fan

    (Fudan University, The Development Research Center of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government)

  • Xuanyi Nie

    (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore)

  • Sarah Wilson

    (Clemson University)

Abstract

This study evaluates the associations between the urban working-age population’s mental health, material possession, and social capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific stressors examined in this empirical analysis are income level, food insecurity, and virtual psychological support. This paper further examines the differences across the employed and unemployed population groups. We obtained data from the COVID-19 Household Impact Survey and constructed four measures of mental health conditions: Nervous, Depressed, Lonely, and Hopeless. Our empirical analyses use an ordinal regression model that takes both time and regional factors into consideration to control for potential time effects and time-invariant confounders that only vary between regions. For the employed group, the main results suggest that lower income and food insecurity is correlated with a higher frequency of mental health symptoms, while virtual psychological support predicts a better mental health status. For the unemployed group, food insecurity is negatively associated with mental health, and virtual psychological might help alleviate nervousness and depression.

Suggested Citation

  • Haobin Fan & Xuanyi Nie & Sarah Wilson, 2023. "Mental Health, Material Possessions, and Social Capital During COVID-19: A Study of the United States Urban Working-Age Population," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 561-599, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:18:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11482-022-10093-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-022-10093-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-022-10093-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-022-10093-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Glass, R., 1999. "Social capital and self-rated health: A contextual analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(8), pages 1187-1193.
    2. Almedom, Astier M., 2005. "Social capital and mental health: An interdisciplinary review of primary evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 943-964, September.
    3. Ettner, Susan L., 1996. "New evidence on the relationship between income and health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 67-85, February.
    4. Kamila Cygan‐Rehm & Daniel Kuehnle & Michael Oberfichtner, 2017. "Bounding the causal effect of unemployment on mental health: Nonparametric evidence from four countries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 1844-1861, December.
    5. Dean, Wesley R. & Sharkey, Joseph R., 2011. "Food insecurity, social capital and perceived personal disparity in a predominantly rural region of Texas: An individual-level analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1454-1462, May.
    6. Özcan Erdem & Frank J Van Lenthe & Rick G Prins & Toon A J J Voorham & Alex Burdorf, 2016. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Psychological Distress among Urban Adults: The Moderating Role of Neighborhood Social Cohesion," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Edward L. Glaeser & David Laibson & Bruce Sacerdote, 2002. "An Economic Approach to Social Capital," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 437-458, November.
    8. Jahoda,Marie, 1982. "Employment and Unemployment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521285865, September.
    9. Merryn Maynard & Lesley Andrade & Sara Packull-McCormick & Christopher M. Perlman & Cesar Leos-Toro & Sharon I. Kirkpatrick, 2018. "Food Insecurity and Mental Health among Females in High-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-36, July.
    10. Tom Truyts, 2010. "Social Status In Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 137-169, February.
    11. repec:mpr:mprres:5077 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Tefft, Nathan, 2011. "Insights on unemployment, unemployment insurance, and mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 258-264, March.
    13. Joel Sobel, 2002. "Can We Trust Social Capital?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 139-154, March.
    14. Alaimo, K. & Briefel, R.R. & Frongillo Jr., E.A. & Olson, C.M., 1998. "Food insufficiency exists in the United States: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III)," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 88(3), pages 419-426.
    15. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Lochner, K. & Prothrow-Stith, D., 1997. "Social capital, income inequality, and mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(9), pages 1491-1498.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haobin Fan & Xuanyi Nie, 2020. "Impacts of Layoffs and Government Assistance on Mental Health during COVID-19: An Evidence-Based Study of the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Sirven, Nicolas, 2006. "Endogenous social capital and self-rated health: Cross-sectional data from rural areas of Madagascar," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1489-1502, September.
    3. Sirven, Nicolas & Debrand, Thierry, 2008. "Social participation and healthy ageing: An international comparison using SHARE data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2017-2026, December.
    4. Thierry Debrand & Nicolas Sirven, 2008. "Promoting Social Participation for Healthy Ageing - A Counterfactual Analysis from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," Working Papers DT7, IRDES institut for research and information in health economics, revised Jan 2008.
    5. Veeshan Rayamajhee & Alok K. Bohara, 2019. "Do voluntary associations reduce hunger? An empirical exploration of the social capital- food security nexus among food impoverished households in western Nepal," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 405-415, April.
    6. Eiji Yamamura, 2011. "Differences in the effect of social capital on health status between workers and non-workers," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(4), pages 385-400, December.
    7. Riumallo-Herl, Carlos Javier & Kawachi, Ichiro & Avendano, Mauricio, 2014. "Social capital, mental health and biomarkers in Chile: Assessing the effects of social capital in a middle-income country," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 47-58.
    8. Schultz, Jennifer & O'Brien, A. Maureen & Tadesse, Bedassa, 2008. "Social capital and self-rated health: Results from the US 2006 social capital survey of one community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 606-617, August.
    9. B. d'Hombres & L. Rocco & M. Suhrcke & M. McKee, 2010. "Does social capital determine health? Evidence from eight transition countries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(1), pages 56-74, January.
    10. Quintal, Carlota & Ramos, Luís Moura & Torres, Pedro, 2023. "Disentangling the complexities of modelling when high social capital contributes to indicating good health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    11. Akcomak, Semih, 2009. "Bridges in social capital: A review of the definitions and the social capital of social capital researchers," MERIT Working Papers 2009-002, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. Dean, Wesley R. & Sharkey, Joseph R., 2011. "Food insecurity, social capital and perceived personal disparity in a predominantly rural region of Texas: An individual-level analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1454-1462, May.
    13. Tampubolon, Gindo, 2009. "Neighbourhood social capital and individual mental health," MPRA Paper 16778, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Tarja Nieminen & Tuija Martelin & Seppo Koskinen & Hillevi Aro & Erkki Alanen & Markku Hyyppä, 2010. "Social capital as a determinant of self-rated health and psychological well-being," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(6), pages 531-542, December.
    15. Yamamura, Eiji, 2008. "The role of social capital in homogeneous society: Review of recent researches in Japan," MPRA Paper 11385, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Hongpeng Guo & Yang Yang & Chulin Pan & Shuang Xu & Nan Yan & Qingyong Lei, 2022. "Study on the Impact of Income Gap on Health Level of Rural Residents in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-17, June.
    17. Guillem López-Casasnovas & Berta Rivera, 2002. "Las políticas de equidad en salud y las relaciones entre renta y salud," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 161(2), pages 99-126, June.
    18. Giulia El-Dardiry & Christine Dimitrakaki & Chara Tzavara & Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer & Yannis Tountas, 2012. "Child Health-Related Quality of Life and Parental Social Capital in Greece: An Exploratory Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 75-92, January.
    19. Economou, Marina & Madianos, Michael & Peppou, Lily Evangelia & Souliotis, Kyriakos & Patelakis, Athanasios & Stefanis, Costas, 2014. "Cognitive social capital and mental illness during economic crisis: A nationwide population-based study in Greece," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 141-147.
    20. Shiell, Alan & Hawe, Penelope & Kavanagh, Shane, 2020. "Evidence suggests a need to rethink social capital and social capital interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:18:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s11482-022-10093-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.