21/Jun/2023

Indicator of community-level social capital from JAGESWe developed and validated an instrument to measure community level social capital based on data derived
from older community dwellers in Japan; 123,760 functionally independent older people nested within 702
communities, i.e., school districts. We aggregated individual responses into school districts to assess social capitalat the community level.
From 53 candidate variables, 11 community-level variables were extracted: participation in volunteer groups,
sports groups, hobby activities, study or cultural groups, and activities for teaching specific skills; trust, norms ofreciprocity, and attachment to one’s community; received emotional support, provided emotional support, andreceived instrumental support. Using factor analysis, these variables were determined to belong to three sub-scales:
civic participation (eigenvalue=3.317, α=.797), social cohesion (eigenvalue=2.633, α=.853), and reciprocity(eigenvalue=1.424, α=.732).
This indicator has already been published in the Journal of Epidemiology. Please refer to the following article fordetails. The cross validity of the indicators is described in "Social capital and well-being (ed. Katsunori Kondo,Minerva Shobo, 2020)", Chapter 1 "Attempts to develop community-level indicators" (written by Japanese). It is
not necessary to obtain permission from the author/developer as long as you cite it appropriately.
Masashige Saito, Naoki Kondo, Jun Aida, Ichiro Kawachi, Shihoko Koyama, Toshiyuki Ojima, Katsunori
Kondo (2017) Development of an instrument for community-level health related social capital among
Japanese older people: The JAGES Project. Journal of Epidemiology, 27(5): 221-227

1. Indicators

Each variable is aggregated by community-level

Indicators a)

Variable name

How often do you attend activities for the following groups?
Volunteer groups
Volunteer group(% ≥ once a month)Sports groups/clubs
Sport group(% ≥ once a month)
Hobby activity group
Hobby activity(% ≥ once a month)
Study or cultural group
Study or cultural(% ≥ once a month)group
Activities to teach skills or pass on experiences to others
Skills teaching(% ≥ once a month)
Do you think people living in your area can be trusted in general?
Community trust(% very & moderately trusted)
Do you think most people in your community is assistance to others?
Norms of reciprocity(% very & moderately agree)
How degree is your residential place attachment?
Community(% very & moderately attached)attachment
Do you have someone who listens to your concerns and complaints?
Received(% anyone)emotional support
Do you listen to someone’s concerns and complaints?
Provided(% anyone)emotional support
Do you have someone who looks after you when you are sick for a few days?
Received(% anyone)
instrumental supportSRH: Self-rated health GDS: Geriatric depression scale *** p <.001 ** p <.01a) Cronbach's alphas=.752b) Population density and elderly proportion at municipality level were controlled.

2. Questionnaire

Mean (SD)Partial correlation b)
Communal
SRH
GDS
ities
( fair/poor)(≥5)

12.6 (4.7)-.093**-.193***.315

25.9 (8.3)-.233***-.355***.640

34.3 (8.4)-.256***-.332***.752

9.9 (4.6)-.144***-.205***.495

6.2 (3.0)-.106**-.200***.288

68.6 (7.6)-.204***-.373***.883

52.1 (8.5)-.144***-.331***.650

79.1 (6.0)-.136***-.315***.529

94.3 (2.7)-.049-.189***.687

92.5 (2.9)-.154**-.265***.533

94.7 (3.1)-.186***-.292***.394

How often do you attend activities for the following groups?
(1) Volunteer group
1. Four or more times a week 2. Two or three times a week 3. Once a week 4. One to three times a month
5. A few times a year 6. Never(2) Sports group or club
1. Four or more times a week 2. Two or three times a week 3. Once a week 4. One to three times a month
5. A few times a year 6. Never(3) Leisure activity group
1. Four or more times a week 2. Two or three times a week 3. Once a week 4. One to three times a month
5. A few times a year 6. Never(4) Study or cultural group
1. Four or more times a week 2. Two or three times a week 3. Once a week 4. One to three times a month
5. A few times a year 6. Never(5) Activities to teach skills or pass on experiences to others
1. Four or more times a week 2. Two or three times a week 3. Once a week 4. One to three times a month
5. A few times a year 6. Never

The following questions are about the area where you live.
(6) Do you think people living in your area can be trusted in general?
1. Very 2. Moderately 3. Neutral 4. Slightly 5. Not at all(7) Do you think most people in your community is assistance to others?
1. Very 2. Moderately 3. Neutral 4. Slightly 5. Not at all(8) How degree is your residential place attachment?
1. Very 2. Moderately 3. Neutral 4. Slightly 5. Not at all

The following questions are about mutual assistance with the people around you.
(9) Do you have someone who listens to your concerns and complaints?
1. Spouse 2. Children living together 3. Children or relatives living apart
4. Brother/sister, relative, parents, grandchildren 5. Neighbor 6. Friend 7. Other 8. None(10) Do you listen to someone’s concerns and complaints?
1. Spouse 2. Children living together 3. Children or relatives living apart
4. Brother/sister, relative, parents, grandchildren 5. Neighbor 6. Friend 7. Other 8. None(11) Do you have someone who looks after you when you are sick and confined to a bed for a fewdays?
1. Spouse 2. Children living together 3. Children or relatives living apart
4. Brother/sister, relative, parents, grandchildren 5. Neighbor 6. Friend 7. Other 8. None

3. Factor loadingSaito et al. (2017) J Epidemiology, 27(5): 221-227

4. Calculation method: Simple addtion score vs Factor score
Our community-level health related social capital score did not largely change between factor scores and simple
addition score.