Aziz Kassani, Mahmoud Reza Gohari, Mir Taher Mousavi, Mohsen Asadilari,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (10-2012)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Social capital composed of networks, norms and values, which facilitates cooperation within and between groups to achieve mutual benefits and common goals. Social capital increases the benefits of investing in physical and human capital. In a society that favors more social capital, collaboration is easier. This study investigates the validity and reliability of a social capital tool, which had been administered through a large population-based survey using factor analysis.
Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from Urban Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool (Urban HEART-1) survey in Tehran. Factor analysis is a method of discovering structural position of variables to reduce them into a limited number of components which are more fundamental. The reliability of the questionnaire and main components of the tool were investigated through factor analysis.
Results: According to factor analysis, three main components of social capital including, individual trust, cohesion/ social support and social trust/associative relations, were recognized. These three components explained 66.14% of total variance of the social capital tool. Also, overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.88 which indicates high reliability of the questionnaire.
Conclusion: Social capital tool, which was administered in Urban HEART project, covers the main components of social capital framework with high reliability and validity, which is suitable to be used in other population-based surveys.
Samad Beheshti, Mohammad Norian Najafabadi,
Volume 19, Issue 1 (6-2021)
Abstract
Background and Aim: The human mental health is a multidimensional and complex issue affected by a wide range of biological, psychological, sociological, economic and cultural factors. Considering the social nature of human life, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between some social variables, e.g., social support, social bond, social trust and social status, and teachers’ mental health.
Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional quantitative survey using a questionnaire to collect. The sample included 373 primary school teachers (first and second grades) in Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran selected in 2020 by multi-stage random sampling. Data were analyzed using the structural equation modelling technic, with the SPSS-25 and Amos-23 software.
Results: The confirmatory factor analysis of the items showed that they could explain 63.25% of the variance of the teachers' mental health variable, the social support, social status and social trust variables affecting it (0.65, 0.45 and 0.18, respectively), with a confidence interval of 99% and p<0.001. On the whole, the independent variables could explain 76% of the variance of the teachers’ mental health. In addition, moderation analysis showed that in general gender moderates the effects of social variables on the teachers’ mental health, the female gender having stronger effects in these relationships.
Conclusion: The results of this study show that primary school teachers' mental health, which is an individual/private phenomenon, is greatly affected by their quality of social life, some factors such as social support, social status and social trust potentially influencing it. Moreover, this effect is much more pronounced among women than men.
