Measuring Social Capital: The Development of the Social Capital and Cohesion Scale and the Associations between Social Capital and Mental Health

Autor/inn/en	Magson, Natasha R.; Craven, Rhonda G.; Bodkin-Andrews, Gawaian H.
Titel	Measuring Social Capital: The Development of the Social Capital and Cohesion Scale and the Associations between Social Capital and Mental Health
Quelle	In: Australian Journal of Educational & Developmental Psychology, 14 (2014), S.202-216 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1446-5442
Schlagwörter	Social Capital; Mental Health; Measures (Individuals); Test Construction; Disadvantaged Youth; Trust (Psychology); Test Validity; Factor Analysis; Test Reliability; Correlation; Depression (Psychology); Anxiety; Secondary School Students; Factor Structure; Foreign Countries; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sozialkapital; Psychohygiene; Messdaten; Testaufbau; Benachteiligter Jugendlicher; Testvalidität; Faktorenanalyse; Testreliabilität; Korrelation; Angst; Sekundarschüler; Faktorenstruktur; Ausland; Australien
Abstract	Over the last two decades, social capital has received increasing attention in the international literature. Despite the popularity of the construct, problems concerning definition, theoretical conceptualisation, and measurement continue to plague research and policy in this area. This investigation aimed to address this gap by developing a new social capital instrument to test the theorised nature of the construct. Utilising a sample of 1371 young Australians living in disadvantaged communities, the newly developed Social Capital and Cohesion Scale (SCCS) combined the commonalities in the current theoretical conceptualisations of social capital defining it as a multi-level, multidimensional construct consisting of trust and reciprocity across family, peer, neighbour, and institutional networks. To test the convergent validity of the scale, relations with mental health were also examined. Confirmatory factor analysis results demonstrated that the SCCS was a valid and reliable multidimensional scale, which was invariant across both regional and gender groups. Correlational analysis demonstrated that associations with depression, anxiety, and stress were consistent with past research thereby strengthening the validity of the SCCS measure (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Newcastle. School of Education, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. e-mail: ajedp@newcastle.edu.au; Web site: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/group/ajedp
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10