Capital social y salud mental en una muestra representativa de trabajadores chilenos

Antecedentes. El capital social ha sido considerado un importante factor a traves del cual se podria comprender, en parte, el efecto de los determinantes sociales macro-estructurales sobre la salud fisica y mental de las personas. Sin embargo, los estudios en America Latina son escasos. Objetivo. Determinar la posible asociacion de las dimensiones del capital social con el nivel de distres psicologico, en trabajadores. Material y Metodo. La muestra fue de 1557 trabajadores de todos los rubros economicos. El 65,6% fueron hombres, con promedios de 37,0 anos de edad y 14,4 anos de estudio. Se utilizo una encuesta que fue adaptada y validada para esta trabajo. El distres psicologico se midio con el GHQ-12. Resultados. La encuesta de capital social mostro buenas propiedades psicometricas, e incluyo tres factores (confianza, reciprocidad, organizacion y participacion comunitaria). Se apreciaron diferencias significativas para el nivel de confianza y de reciprocidad por sexo, edad y escolaridad. En general, se encontro una correlacion estadisticamente significativa entre el nivel de distres psicologico y las tres dimensiones del capital social, en especial en los subgrupos de las mujeres, de edad intermedia (41 a 60 anos) y con escolaridad media (9 a 12 anos). Conclusion. La encuesta de capital social mostro buenas propiedades psicometricas, pudiendo ser util para otros estudios poblacionales. Se confirmo la asociacion de las tres dimensiones de capital social con la salud mental, en especial en algunos subgrupos. El desarrollo del capital social en nuestros paises deberia ser motivo de politicas publicas y de evaluaciones periodicas. Abstract Antecedents. The social capital has been considered an important factor through which the effect of the macro structural social causes for physical and mental health of the people could be partly understood. However, the studies in Latin America are limited. Objective. Determine the possible associations of the dimensions of social capital with the level of psychological distress in the workers. Materials and Methods. The sample included 1557 workers from all economic areas. 65% were men, with an average age of 37,0 and 14,4 years of schooling. A survey was used and it was adapted and validated for this job. The psychological distress was measured with GHQ-12. Results.The social capital survey showed good psychometric characteristics and it included three factors (trust, reciprocity, organization and community participation). Significant differences were shown for the level of trust and reciprocity by gender, age and years of schooling. In general, a correlation which was statistically significant was found between the level of psychological distress and the three dimensions of the social capital, especially in the subgroups of women of an intermediate age (41 to 60 years) who have attended primary school (9 to 12 years of schooling). Conclusion. The social capital survey showed good psychometric properties which could be useful for other population studies. The association among the three dimensions of social capital with mental health was confirmed, specially in some subgroups. The development of social capital in our countries should be the motive behind public policies and regular evaluations.