Does the association between different dimension of social capital and adolescent smoking vary by socioeconomic status? a pooled cross-national analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze how dimensions of social capital at the individual level are associated with adolescent smoking and whether associations differ by socioeconomic status.


METHODS
Data were from the 'Health Behaviour in School-aged Children' study 2005/2006 including 6511 15-year-old adolescents from Flemish Belgium, Canada, Romania and England. Socioeconomic status was measured using the Family Affluence Scale (FAS). Social capital was indicated by friend-related social capital, participation in school and voluntary organizations, trust and reciprocity in family, neighborhood and school. We conducted pooled logistic regression models with interaction terms and tested for cross-national differences.


RESULTS
Almost all dimensions of social capital were associated with a lower likelihood of smoking, except for friend-related social capital and school participation. The association of family-related social capital with smoking was significantly stronger for low FAS adolescents, whereas the association of vertical trust and reciprocity in school with smoking was significantly stronger for high FAS adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
Social capital may act both as a protective and a risk factor for adolescent smoking. Achieving higher levels of family-related social capital might reduce socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent smoking.
Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research, and Rehabilitation Science (IMVR) of the University of Cologne (IMVR), Faculty of Human Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, Univeristy of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. timo-kolja.pfoertner@uk-koeln.de.|Institute of Medical Sociology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. timo-kolja.pfoertner@uk-koeln.de.
Timo-Kolja
TK
Pförtner
Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Bart
B
De Clercq
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Michela
M
Lenzi
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Alessio
A
Vieno
Institute of Medical Sociology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
Katharina
K
Rathmann
Institute of Medical Sociology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
Irene
I
Moor
Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Anne
A
Hublet
Health Promotion Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Michal
M
Molcho
Department of Public Health, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Anton E
AE
Kunst
Institute of Medical Sociology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
Matthias
M
Richter
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002170:Canada; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics; D066270:Social Capital; D012923:Social Class
Adolescence; Health Behaviour in School-aged Children; Smoking; Social capital; Socioeconomic inequalities