Association between social capital and depressive symptoms in adolescents relocated for poverty alleviation in Shanxi, China: a cross-sectional study

This study aims to explore the relationship between social capital and depressive symptoms among adolescents relocated for poverty alleviation and its gender differences. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2023 in Shanxi, China. The Social Capital Questionnaire for Adolescent Students (SCQ-AS) was used to assess the social capital of relocated adolescents, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21-D) was used to assess their depressive symptoms. This study uses descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression methods to study the level and significance of the association between social capital and depressive symptoms among relocated adolescents for poverty alleviation. This study included a total of 631 relocated adolescents for poverty alleviation, with a depressive symptoms detection rate of 15.2%. Social capital (AOR: 0.801, 95% CI 0.754-0.852, p < 0.001) and its subdimensions, school cohesion (AOR: 0.664, 95%CI 0.589-0.748, p < 0.001), school friendship (AOR:0.621, 95%CI 0.526-0.733, p < 0.001), neighborhood social cohesion (AOR: 0.705, 95%CI 0.595-0.835, p < 0.001), and trust (AOR: 0.848, 95%CI 0.729-0.986, p < 0.05), were significantly negatively related to depressive symptoms. Social capital was significantly associated with depressive symptoms among both males and females (AOR_males: 0.805, 95%CI 0.734-0.883, p < 0.001; AOR_female: 0.787, 95%CI 0.722-0.858, p < 0.001), trust has a more significant effect on reducing depressive symptoms in female adolescents. This study reveals the relationship between social capital and depressive symptoms and its gender differences among adolescents relocated for poverty alleviation, providing information for targeted policy and intervention in adolescent health promotion in many developing and underdeveloped countries that use relocation as a way to alleviate poverty.