Individual and contextual influences of workplace social capital on cardiovascular health.

Social capital is commonly defined as features of social relationships, such as levels of interpersonal trust and norms of reciprocity and mutual aid, that facilitate collective action for mutual benefit. An extended research tradition exists around the contextual effects of social capital at the level of geographical areas such as neighborhoods, but more recently workplace social capital has received growing attention in literature. An overview of the different theoretical approaches and empirical findings of the concept of workplace social capital will be presented. Studies have shown associations between workplace social capital and indicators of mental and physical health, but very few research has focused on the relation with cardiovascular disease. An integrated theoretical model of reciprocity as key aspect of social capital was developed that distinguishes both emotional and instrumental dimensions of reciprocity among coworkers and supervisors at the individual and workplace level. This model has been empirically tested using data from the BELSTRESS study including more than 24.000 middle-aged men and women at work in 32 different workplaces. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires and bio-clinical examinations. Results will be presented on the impact of workplace social capital on behavioral and clinical cardiovascular risk factors.