Psychometric properties of the community social capital measure: evidence from the JAGES project.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to test the factor structure of the social capital scale used in the Japan Evaluation Gerontological Study (JAGES) considering individual and community level, measurement invariance between levels, internal consistency of dimensions, and nomological validity. This instrument was developed within a multilevel framework to explore the relationship between social capital and individual outcomes but has only been validated at the community level.

METHOD: Sample included 194566 Japanese participants grouped in 1049 communities, aged 65 years and older.

RESULTS

Analysis confirmed a three-factor multilevel structure of social capital: civic participation, social cohesion, and reciprocity at both individual and community levels, with evidence of scalar invariance across levels. The omega coefficients differ at individual and community levels, civic participation 0.697 and 0.998, social cohesion 0.777 and 0.996, and reciprocity 0.830 and .995. We found differences in the three dimensions of social capital at the two levels when test the nomological validity.

CONCLUSION

These results support a multifactorial structure of the social capital measured and provide evidence for its multilevel validity.