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Social capital, self-rated health, and wellbeing during COVID-19 Era: Evidence from a rural household survey in Southwest Nigeria

Joshua O. Akinyemi, University of Ibadan
Ojo M. Agunbiade, Obafemi Awolowo University/ Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Mobolaji Salawu, University of Ibadan
Olanrewaju Eniade, University of Ibadan
Sanni Yaya, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada
Olufunmilayo Fawole, University of Ibadan

This paper investigates relationship between self-rated health (SRH), subjective wellbeing (SWB) and social capital (SC) among adults Nigerians in the COVID-19 era. Data were collected between June and August 2020 via a rural community survey in Southwest Nigeria. Results on structural SC showed that half of the 922 participants belonged to 2-3 different groups. On community activities, 69.4% had had no involvement in the past 12 months before the survey. Overall, 27.8% and 42.9% had low and high cognitive SC respectively. SRH was rated as good by 44.8%. Having a secondary (AOR=1.97, CI: 1.20-3.24) was associated with higher odds of good or very good SRH. None of the SC measures were related to SRH among rural dwellers in Southwest Nigeria. The average score for SWB was 75.3 (SD=11.4). Participants with good support (ß =4.28, CI: 2.24, 6.32) had better SWB compared to those with poor support. In contrast, joining other members to address issues in the community was associated with lesser SWB (ß =-4.61, CI: -6.32, -2.90). There was no relationship between cognitive SC and SWB. These results suggest that structural SC can be leveraged upon to enhance better quality of life among rural dwellers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19, Demographic and social surveys, Health and morbidity

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P10.