Assessing Socioeconomic Inequality in Self-Rated Health in Four ex-Yugoslav Countries: Does Social Capital Play a Role?

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Title (croatian): Analiza socioekonomskih nejednakosti u samoprocijenjenom zdravlju u četirima državama bivše Jugoslavije – ispitivanje uloge društvenog kapitala
• Author: Luka Jurkovic https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0407-3832
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of Sociology)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: SOCIAL SCIENCES; Sociology

Abstract (english)

There has been a growing academic interest in explaining the well-established association between socioeconomic status and health. Among the various proposed mechanisms and pathways, social capital has been recognised as a potentially important antecedent of socioeconomic inequalities in health. However, these interrelationships remain relatively unexplored within the countries of former Yugoslavia. Therefore, this article aims to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the role of individual-level social capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and self-rated health in four ex-Yugoslav countries. The present study is based on the data from the ninth round of the European Social Survey (2018). The author analysed the data of participants aged 25 and over from Croatia (N = 1534), Montenegro (N = 1002), Serbia (N = 1720) and Slovenia (N = 1149). In order to test the target associations, sequential multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. The results show that occupational social class and several social capital indicators are associated with self-rated health, although independently of each other. Across all countries, unskilled and skilled manual workers and long-term unemployed individuals were more likely to report poor health compared to non-manual workers, with the exception of Montenegrin skilled manual workers and the long-term unemployed participants from Slovenia. Moreover, despite some cross-country differences in the relationship between individual levels of social capital and self-rated health, social participation was associated with self-rated health across all countries. These findings highlight the importance of encouraging social participation within these countries, which can lead to health benefits through behavioural and psychosocial mechanisms.

Abstract (croatian)

U posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća porastao je akademski interes za objašnjavanje gotovo univerzalne povezanosti između socioekonomskog statusa i zdravlja. Među brojnim mehanizmima u literaturi koji bi mogli objasniti socioekonomske nejednakosti u zdravlju, koncept društvenog kapitala zauzima posebno mjesto. Međutim, spomenute su veze još uvijek relativno neistražene među državama bivše Jugoslavije. Ovim se radom stoga nastoji popuniti praznina u literaturi kroz istraživanje uloge individualne razine društvenog kapitala u odnosu između socioekonomskog statusa i samoprocijenjenog zdravlja u četirima državama bivše Jugoslavije. Analize prikazane u radu temelje se na podatcima iz 9. kruga Europskoga društvenog istraživanja iz 2018. godine, pri čemu su analizirani podatci sudionika starijih od 24 godine iz Hrvatske (N = 1534), Crne Gore (N = 1002), Srbije (N = 1720) i Slovenije (N = 1149). U svrhu testiranja ciljanih povezanosti provedena je multivarijatna logistička regresijska analiza. Rezultati analize pokazuju da je samoprocijenjeno zdravlje negativno povezano s društvenom klasom u svim državama, pri čemu su nekvalificirani i kvalificirani fizički radnici te dugoročno nezaposleni pojedinci imali lošije samoprocijenjeno zdravlje od nefizičkih radnika, s iznimkom kvalificiranih radnika iz Crne Gore te dugoročno nezaposlenih sudionika iz Slovenije. Također, utvrđena je negativna povezanost između samoprocijenjenog zdravlja i nekoliko indikatora društvenog kapitala, pri čemu je ta povezanost neovisna o socioekonomskom statusu. Iako su utvrđene razlike među državama, društvena participacija značajno je povezana sa samoprocijenjenim zdravljem u svim četirima državama. Dobiveni nalazi upućuju na važnost promoviranja društvene participacije, koja kroz brojne bihevioralne i psihosocijalne mehanizme može imati pozitivnu ulogu u zdravlju ljudi.

• Keywords (english): health inequalities; self-rated health; socioeconomic status; social capital; ex-Yugoslavia
• Keywords (croatian): zdravstvene nejednakosti; samoprocijenjeno zdravlje; socioekonomski status; društveni kapital; bivša Jugoslavija
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Revija za sociologiju
• Numbering: vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 409-429
• p-ISSN: 0350-154X
• e-ISSN: 1846-7954
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5613/rzs.51.3.4
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:272027
• Publication: 2021
• Document URL: https://hrcak.srce.hr/269804
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-05-10 13:09:27