You have to be there to enjoy it? Neighbourhood social capital and health

Background: Several studies have shown the positive effect of neighbourhood social capital on health. Existing research, however, has hitherto not studied whether the duration and intensity of exposure to neighbourhood social capital conditions and its effect on health. The aim of this study was to examine whether neighbourhood social capital affects individual's health immediately and equally. Methods: We used two waves of the Dutch cross-sectional 'Housing and Living Survey'. One (from 2009) as individual data (n = 65 990), and the other (from 2006) to estimate with ecometric measurements a social capital measure for 3001 Dutch neighbourhoods. We assessed by means of multilevel regression models the combined effect of exposure and amount of neighbourhood social capital on self-rated health. Results: Duration of exposure, measured by the length of stay in the same neighbourhood is not linearly associated with individual health. Health of people who live up to 6 years or > 22 years in the same neighbourhood is not affected by neighbourhood social capital. People with young children in the household or elderly were assumed to be more intensively exposed. However, exposure intensity was only found to have an effect for households with young children. Conclusions: Duration and intensity of exposure to neighbourhood social capital, a social aspect of the environment, matters for people's health. Interventions focusing on the health of people with young children may want to stimulate the creation of neighbourhood social capital.