The Effect of Social Capital on Students' Mental Health in Payame Noor University of Mehriz

Background: Mental health, on one hand, plays an important role in providing the social, cultural, and economic development grounds; and nation's on the other hand, various biological, psychological, and social factors influence its realization. Accordingly, identification of these effective factors can help improve the mental health of people. In this regard, the present study examined the relation between social capital and mental health of students.   Methods: The research was a cross-sectional survey. The sample was ۲۳۹ students who were selected by stratified random sampling. Mental health data were collected through Goldberg's ۲۸-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and social capital data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. To analyze the data, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used in SPSS ۱۴.   Results: There was a significant relation between social capital (p <۰.۰۰۱) and its components including social trust (p <۰.۰۰۱), social network (P=۰.۰۰۱), and norms of cooperation (P=۰.۰۱۸) with the mental health of students, but the socio-economic status (P=۰.۴۶۲) and students' age (P=۰.۲۰۲) had no significant relation with their mental health. Also, social capital was associated with symptoms of social function (p <۰.۰۰۱) and depression (p <۰.۰۰۱), of mental health dimensions.   Conclusion: Considering the effective role of social capital in promoting the mental health of students, universities can play an important role in enhancing students’ social capital via supporting group activities.  

Keywords:

Health , mental health , Social capital , Trust , participation , norms