Associations of Social Capital with Mental Disorder Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity among U.S. Adolescents. Issue 6 (2nd November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hirota, Tomoya; Paksarian, Diana; He, Jian-Ping; Inoue, Sachiko; Stapp, Emma K.; Van Meter, Anna; Merikangas, Kathleen R.
• Is Part Of: Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology. Volume 51:Issue 6(2022)
• Page Start: 970
• Page End: 981
• Publication Date: 2022-11-02
• Subjects: Child psychology -- Periodicals; Child psychiatry -- Periodicals; Adolescent psychology -- Periodicals; Adolescent psychiatry -- Periodicals; Adolescent Psychology -- Periodicals; Child Psychology -- Periodicals; Psychology, Clinical -- Periodicals; Adolescent psychiatry; Adolescent psychology; Child psychiatry; Child psychology; Periodicals; 155.4
• DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2021.1875326
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1537-4416

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objective: To examine cross-sectional associations between social capital constructs and 1) adolescent lifetime mental disorders, 2) severity of functional impairment, and 3) psychiatric comorbidity. Method: Data were from the National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement, a nationally representative mental health survey of 6, 483 U.S. adolescents aged 13–18 years. Information from fully-structured diagnostic interviews, including adolescent and caregiver reports, was used to measure seven social capital constructs and lifetime DSM-IV mental disorders (mood, anxiety, behavior, substance use and eating disorder classes). Disorder severity was divided into severe vs. mild/moderate. Comorbidity was measured as the number of different classes of lifetime mental disorders. Results: Adjusted for socio-demographics and caregivers' mental health, the most consistent associations with adolescent mental disorder were for supportive friendships (any disorder OR = 0.95, 95%CI = 0.91–0.99), family cohesion (OR = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.75–0.86), school bonding (OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.71–0.81), and extracurricular participation (OR = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.86–0.95), although results differed by disorder class. Caregiver-reported neighborhood trust and reciprocity and caregiver community involvement were less consistently associated with mental disorder. Medium levels of adolescent-reported affiliation with neighbors was associated with lower odds of mood (OR = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.66–0.98) and anxiety (OR = 0.78, 95%CI = 0.64–0.96) disorder, while high levels were associated with higher odds of behavior disorder (OR = 1.47, 95%CI = 1.16–1.87). Several associations were stronger for severe vs. mild/moderate disorder and with increasing comorbidity. Conclusion: Although we cannot infer causality, our findings support the notion that improving actual and/or perceived social capital, especially regarding friendships, family, and school, (e.g., through multimodal interventions) could aid in the prevention and treatment of both individual adolescent mental disorders and psychiatric comorbidity.