Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Faculty of psychology and education Shahid beheshti university, Tehran
Abstract
Introduction: social capital is a variety of resources that every individuals and groups has to communicate. These resources have an effective role in improving mental health by providing psychological and emotional support. Method: the present study aimed to compare the social capital and its components between girl and boy students of Tehran city. The population of this study is adolescents aged 12 to 18 in Tehran. The sample consists of 255 students including 109 girls and 146 boys selected by convenience sampling. The participants completed the social capital questionnaire adolescent students (SCQ-AS; Paiva, et al., 2014). This questionnaire was standardized and used for the first time in this study. In the standardized version of the questionnaire two-factor structure were obtained for Iranian teenagers. The distribution of social capital’s data was abnormal, so the Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics methods and U Mann-Whitney test. Findings: the levels of social capital and "social cohesion in school" were higher in girl adolescents. Although the boys have gained higher scores in "trust" subscale, but the scores between the two groups was not significant in this dimension. Result: Student’s sex is an effective factor in their levels of social capitalThe findings of this study can be useful for preparation of training packages for parents and teachers to promote mental health in adolescent students.
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