Social capital dimensions are differentially associated with COVID-19 vaccinations, masks, and physical distancing

Abstract

Background Social capital has been associated with health outcomes in communities and can explain variations in different geographic localities. Social capital has also been associated with behaviors that promote better health and reduce the impacts of diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, face masking, and vaccination have all been essential in controlling contagion. These behaviors have not been uniformly adopted by communities in the United States. Using different facets of social capital to explain the differences in public behaviors among communities during pandemics is lacking. Objective This study examines the relationship among public health behavior—vaccination, face masking, and physical distancing—during COVID-19 pandemic and social capital indices in counties in the United States. Methods We used publicly available vaccination data as of June 2021, face masking data in July 2020, and mobility data from mobile phones movements from the end of March 2020. Then, correlation analysis was conducted with county-level social capital index and its subindices (family unity, community health, institutional health, and collective efficacy) that were obtained from the Social Capital Project by the United States Senate. Results We found the social capital index and its subindices differentially correlate with different public health behaviors. Vaccination is associated with institutional health: positively with fully vaccinated population and negatively with vaccination hesitancy. Also, wearing masks negatively associates with community health, whereases reduced mobility associates with better community health. Further, residential mobility positively associates with family unity. By comparing correlation coefficients, we find that social capital and its subindices have largest effect sizes on vaccination and residential mobility. Conclusion Our results show that different facets of social capital are significantly associated with adoption of protective behaviors, e.g., social distancing, face masking, and vaccination. As such, our results suggest that differential facets of social capital imply a Swiss cheese model of pandemic control planning where, e.g., institutional health and community health, provide partially overlapping behavioral benefits.

Jabbing together? The complementarity between social capital, formal public health rules, and COVID-19 vaccine rates in the United States

“…A one unit increase in the interaction between family unit and the values for personal freedom decreases the magnitude of vaccinations by 0.11%, and a one unit increase in the interaction between institutional health and the values for personal freedom increases the magnitude of vaccination by 0.05%. These results are similar to Ferwana and Varshney [13] which finds that institutional health positively influences vaccination rates.…”

“…As Ferwana and Varshney [13] suggests, the effect social capital might have on vaccination rates might vary depending a particular sub component used in its construction. Table 4 shows whether these sub components alone have a similar effect on the magnitude of vaccination.…”

“…They report that the spread of COVID-19 falls by 18 percent (and deaths fall by 5.7 percent) as counties increase their social capital from the 25th percentile to the 75th percentile. Ferwana and Varshney [13] shows that different components of social capital have differing effects.…”

An agent-based model to assess coronavirus disease 19 spread and health systems burden

“…In accordance with the Swiss cheese model, the combined effect of multiple interventions on curtailing the spread of infection has been analyzed. Hospitals have been benefited from this approach of setting up multiple defense strategies [25], [26].…”

Social Capital as Protection Against the Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Trusting people have more concern for others, leading to more hygienic practices and social distancing. High levels of institutional trust may result in more compliance to public health recommendations such as social distancing, mask wearing and vaccination (Barrios et al, 2020 ; Borgonovi and Andrieu, 2020 ; Varshney and Socher, 2020 ; Borgonovi et al, 2021 ; Ferwana and Varshney, 2021 ; Makridis and Wu, 2021 ).…”