Macinko J, Starfield B
Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N Broadway-Room 447, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Milbank Q. 2001;79(3):387-427, IV. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.00213.
Social capital has become a popular subject in the literature on determinants of health. The concept of social capital has been used in the sociological, political science, and economic development literatures, as well as in the health inequalities literature. Analysis of its use in the health inequalities literature suggests that each theoretical tradition has conceptualized social capital differently. Health researchers have employed a wide range of social capital measures, borrowing from several theoretical traditions. Given the wide variation in these measures and an apparent lack of consistent theoretical or empirical justification for their use, conclusions about the likely role of "social capital" on population health may be overstated or even misleading. Elements of a research agenda are proposed to further elucidate the potential role of factors currently subsumed under the rubric of "social capital."
社会资本已成为健康决定因素文献中的一个热门话题。社会资本的概念已在社会学、政治学和经济发展文献以及健康不平等文献中得到应用。对其在健康不平等文献中的应用分析表明，每种理论传统对社会资本的概念化都有所不同。健康研究人员借鉴了多种理论传统，采用了广泛的社会资本衡量方法。鉴于这些衡量方法差异很大，而且在使用它们时明显缺乏一致的理论或实证依据，关于“社会资本”对人群健康可能作用的结论可能被夸大甚至产生误导。本文提出了一个研究议程的要素，以进一步阐明目前归入“社会资本”范畴的因素的潜在作用。
