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Social capital as mediating factor on COVID‐19 induced psychological distress: The case of college students living through an outbreak
Author(s) -
Fulkerson Gregory,
Thomas Alexander R.,
McCarthy Michael,
Seale Elizabeth,
Han Sallie,
Kemmerer Kirsten,
Zians James
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22731
Subject(s) - outbreak , social capital , distress , psychology , structural equation modeling , capital (architecture) , latent variable , covid-19 , psychological distress , social psychology , clinical psychology , disease , anxiety , medicine , sociology , psychiatry , infectious disease (medical specialty) , geography , social science , virology , statistics , mathematics , archaeology , pathology , artificial intelligence , computer science
Abstract This investigation examines the interplay between individual‐level social capital, psychological distress, and the effects of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak on a college campus. Data were collected from students at two colleges in early 2021. Hypotheses were formed based on prior research on social capital and the COVID pandemic. A structural equation model was constructed to allow the modeling of both latent and observed variables. The Kessler‐6 measures were used to create a latent psychological distress variable, which was the dependent variable. Predictor variables include whether the student experienced the outbreak, the student's race and gender, and the level of reported individual social capital (having supportive and rewarding relationships). Our findings suggest that the most robust predictor of reduced psychological distress was individual social capital, which also served as an intermediary between the outbreak and distress. Social capital mediates psychological distress in an outbreak.