ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Social Capital's Association with Self-reported Health Outcomes in the Rural South: Variations by Demographic Sub Population
Provisionally accepted
- 1Emory Prevention Research Center, Atlanta, GA, United States
- 2Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, United States
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Background Limited information is known about how social capital is associated with self-reported measures of health in rural settings. Even less is known about how these associations may vary within demographic subgroups. While a large body of research demonstrates that social capital is associated with a variety of health outcomes, additional knowledge is needed to create appropriate interventions for rural communities in the United States. Methods A mail-in population-level survey was conducted across six counties in the rural southern United States as part of a broader health equity initiative. Multivariable logistic regression models were run to assess how five domains of social capital (trust, diversity of interaction, reciprocity, civic engagement and voting behaviors) were associated with health status, physical distress and mental distress. Results Social capital domains were positively associated with good health status, infrequent physical distress (defined as less than 14 days per month) and infrequent mental distress (defined as less than 14 days per month) for most sub-groups. However, there were little to no significant findings among Black individuals and young adults. Conclusions These findings suggest that social capital may not operate equally across demographic sub-groups, particularly for Black individuals and young adults. Social capital may not be related for
Keywords: Health Status, Mental Health, physical health, Rural Health, social capital
Received: 16 Sep 2025; Accepted: 05 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bigger, McGee, Smith, Haardӧrfer, Hermstad and Kegler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lauren M. Bigger
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