Enrico A. Marcelli, PhD, S.V. Subramanian, PhD, and Ichiro Kawachi, PhD. Department of Society, Human Development and Health, School of Public Health, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115-6096, 617-642-9361, emarcell@hsph.harvard.edu

Applying multilevel statistical techniques to 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey data and 2000 U.S. Census data, we estimate whether income inequality and social capital influenced self-reported health and well-being among adults in the United States, and whether these effects varied by level of geographic aggregation and ethno-racial group. Analysis across metropolitan statistical areas reveals – even after controlling for individual characteristics (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity, race, marital status, educational attainment, occupation, income) and several geographically-aggregated compositional factors (e.g., ethno-racial diversity, homeownership) – that social capital had an independent positive impact on subjective health and well-being. Consistent with previous research, results also intimate that this effect varied by ethno-racial group and level of geographic aggregation (e.g., state, metropolitan area, census tract, census block). We conclude by discussing several possible explanations for group- and spatially-differentiated effects of social capital on health and well-being, the absence of an inequality effect on health outcomes at relatively local geographic levels, and implications for community-based interventions and public policy formation.

Learning Objectives:

After our presentation, session participants will be able to (
• evaluate the relative impact of metropolitan area and neighborhood-level income inequality and social capital on individual health and well-being by ethno-racial group in the United States; (
• obtain an understanding of how the use of multilevel methods enables the separation of individual- and community-level health effects; (
• articulate how where one resides, one's ethno-racial group affiliation(s), and with whom one associates impact health outcomes, and (
• communicate what these "neighborhood" effects imply for health policy formation.

Keywords: Community Development, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.