title: Investigation of relationship between social capital and quality of life in female headed families.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although most studies on female-headed families focus on women's access to social support, the associations between social capital and quality of life in these families are unclear in many societies (such as Iran). This study aimed to determine the associations between social capital and quality of life in Iranian female headed families.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was performed on 152 female-headed households supported by Tehran Municipality, district 9 from April 2011 to July 2012. Convenience sampling was employed. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire, the Iranian version of World Health Organization Quality of Life, and the Word Bank Social Capital. Descriptive and multiple regression methods were used to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean±SD age of participants was 50.8±13.8 years. Findings revealed that in quality of life, the domains of environment health and social relation received the lowest (9.87 ± 2.41) and the highest (12.61 ±3.43) scores respectively; and with respect to social capital, membership in groups and social trust had the least (19.61 ± 17.11) and the most (51.04 ± 17.37) scores, respectively. The multiple regression model revealed a significant positive association between total score of the quality of life and the total score for the social capital (p< 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that quality of life of female-headed families and social capital domains are strongly related. This means that by improving the social capital, women's life can also be improved.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. srimaz2000@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shahnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rimaz
authors.affiliation: PhD Candidate in Epidemiology, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran. mdastoorpour@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dastoorpoor
authors.affiliation: MSc of Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. samiravesali@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vesali
authors.affiliation: MSc of Biostatistics, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. n_saiepour@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saiepour
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, School of Public Health, Knowledge Utilization Research center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. nejatsan@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Saharnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nedjat
authors.affiliation: PhD Student in Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. sadeghi.masoume@gmail.com .
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Sexual Health Promotion, Iranian Centre of Addiction Studies (INCAS), Institution of Risk Behaviour Reduction, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. effat_mer@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Effat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merghati Khoei
keywords: Female-Headed Families (FHF); Quality of life; Social Capital