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. 2023 Jul:82:103022.
doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103022. Epub 2023 Apr 5.

Pre-COVID-19 cognitive social capital and peri-COVID-19 depression: A prospective cohort study on the contextual moderating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, 2016-2020

Yang Han  1 , Roger Yat-Nork Chung  2
Affiliations

Pre-COVID-19 cognitive social capital and peri-COVID-19 depression: A prospective cohort study on the contextual moderating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, 2016-2020

Yang Han et al. Health Place. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

Social capital could protect mental health. We examined whether the COVID-19 context and province-level COVID-19 situation altered the longitudinal association between cognitive social capital (generalized trust, trust in neighbors, trust in local government officials, and reciprocity) and depression. Results from multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models showed that trust in neighbors, trust in local government officials, and reciprocity were more crucial in longitudinally reducing depression in 2020 than in 2018. Also, as compared with provinces where the COVID-19 situation was less poor, trust in local government officials in 2018 was more crucial in reducing depression in 2020 in provinces with a worse COVID-19 situation. Therefore, cognitive social capital should be taken into account for pandemic preparedness and mental health resilience.

Keywords: COVID-19; China; Cognitive social capital; Depression; Longitudinal association; Pandemic preparedness.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Analytical framework A. The moderating effect of the COVID-19 context on the longitudinal association between cognitive social capital and depression B. The moderating effect of province-level COVID-19 situation in 2020 on the longitudinal association between pre-COVID-19 cognitive social capital and peri-COVID-19 depression.
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