The association between social capital indicators and psychological distress in Catalan adolescents.

According to the WHO, globally, one in seven adolescents experiences a mental disorder, being in a detrimental situation toward educational achievement, social cohesion, future health and life chances. Calls to identify risk and resilience factors to develop effective preventive actions have been made. Following a systemic approach, we conducted a cross-sectional study on the relationship between social capital and psychological distress in a sample of Catalan adolescents in Barcelona, taking into account a range of other relevant aspects at different levels influencing mental health, including gender, age, migrant status, family background, lifestyle factors, body mass index, and self-rated health.

Development and validation of a questionnaire to measure family social capital.

The development and psychometric validation of instruments to measure social capital remains a priority in the field. The aim of the current study was to develop a Questionnaire on Family Social Capital (FSCQ) for use in an adolescent population and to test its reliability and validity. We followed an exploratory, sequential mixed-methods approach consisting of four steps: (1)item selection based on a conceptual model; (2)expert judgment of the conceptual model; (3)cognitive validation through focus groups; (4)psychometric validation, through principal components analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess construct validity, using Cronbach alpha and ICC to test reliability, and testing rural-urban differences to evaluate discriminant validity.

Social influences on adolescents' dietary behavior in Catalonia, Spain: A qualitative multiple-cases study from the perspective of social capital.

Adolescence has been referred to as the last best chance to prevent adult non-communicable diseases. Gaining further evidence on the psychosocial determinants of health behaviors, particularly the impact of peers, social networks and media on diet, is necessary to develop appropriate preventive strategies. Based on a multiple-cases study, our aim was to discuss the social influences on adolescents' dietary behavior from a social capital perspective.

Family social capital and health - a systematic review and redirection.

The level (or scale) at which social capital can be conceptualised and measured ranges potentially from the macro-level (regional or country level), to the meso-level (neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools), down to the individual level. However, one glaring gap in the conceptualisation of social capital within the empirical literature has been the level of the family. Our aim in this review is to examine the family as the 'missing level' in studies on social capital and health.

Measuring social capital: further insights.

Social capital is defined as the resources available to individuals and groups through membership in social networks. However, multiple definitions, distinct dimensions and subtypes of social capital have been used to investigate and theorise about its relationship to health on different scales, creating a confusing picture. This heterogeneity makes it necessary to systematise social capital measures in order to build a stronger foundation in terms of how these associations between the different aspects of social capital and each specific health indicator develop.

Development of the Spanish Healthy Food Reference Budget for an adequate social participation at the minimum.

Objective: It has been observed that diet quality and food choices vary depending on socio-economic status (SES), especially when measured through income and educational level. Although the reasons behind these differences are multiple, diet cost is a critical determinant in those groups that spend a higher proportion of their budget on food. Reference budgets are priced baskets containing the minimum goods and services necessary for well-described types of families to have an adequate social participation.