title: The role of community social capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and adolescent life satisfaction: mediating or moderating? Evidence from Czech data.
abstract: The concept of social capital has been extensively used to explain the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and adolescent health and well-being. Much less is known about the specific mechanism through which social capital impacts the relationship. This paper investigates whether an individual's perception of community social capital moderates or mediates the association between SES and life satisfaction.
  
  
  
  This study employs cross-sectional data from the 2009-2010 Czech Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey: a WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study (HBSC). A sample of 4425 adolescents from the 5th, 7thand 9thgrade (94.5% school response rate, 87% student response) was used to perform multilevel analysis.
  
  
  
  We found that pupils' life satisfaction was positively related to both family affluence and perceived wealth. Moreover, we found the cognitive component of social capital to be positively associated with life satisfaction. Additionally, a significant interaction was found, such that the social gradient in life satisfaction was flattened when pupils reported high levels of perceived community social capital.
  
  
  
  The present findings suggest that community social capital acts as an unequal health resource for adolescents, but could potentially represent opportunities for public health policy to close the gap in socioeconomic disparities.
authors.affiliation: Unit Health Promotion, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buijs
authors.affiliation: Unit Health Promotion, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University in Olomouc, Tr. Miru 15, Olomouc, 77111, Czech Republic. ferdinand.salonna@upol.cz.
authors.forename: Ferdinand
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1597-5770
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salonna
authors.affiliation: Unit Health Promotion, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Damme
authors.affiliation: Unit Health Promotion, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hublet
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Ovocný trh 3-5, 116 36, Praha 1, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kebza
authors.affiliation: EuroHealthNet, 67 rue de la Loi B-1040, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costongs
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Medical & Biological Sciences, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9TF, UK.
authors.forename: Candace
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.affiliation: Unit Health Promotion, Department of Public Health, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, K3, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Clercq
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067697:Adolescent Health; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018153:Czech Republic; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D066270:Social Capital; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Czech Republic; Health inequalities; Life satisfaction; Social capital; Youth