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Social capital matters in psychiatry because the strength of a person's social networks and community ties is itself linked to mental health, independent of individual social support alone. It refers to the networks, norms of reciprocity, and trust that exist between people, resources a person or community can draw on because of their connections, distinct from financial capital (money and assets) or individual social support (help from one's own personal contacts). For example, imagine two neighbourhoods with similar average incomes, one where neighbours know, trust, and help each other, and one where they do not, the first has higher social capital even though individual wealth is unchanged.

Bonding social capital describes close ties within a similar group, such as family or close friends, offering strong emotional support. Bridging social capital describes looser ties across different groups, such as acquaintances from a different background, offering access to new information and opportunities. Linking social capital additionally describes ties that cross power gradients, such as connections to institutions or authorities. Putnam's Bowling Alone described a decline in these connections in modern society. For example, imagine a patient with depression who has strong bonding capital, close family support, but very little bridging capital, no wider community or peer network, that pattern of connection helps explain both their resilience and the limits of it. In practice, this means higher community-level social capital is associated with better population mental health outcomes, distinct from an individual's own personal social support network.

• Which author popularised the idea that declining community participation harms social capital?
• Which form of social capital describes connections across differences in power or authority?
• What is a recognised drawback of strong bonding social capital in a community?

• Bonding social capital, close ties within a similar group, unlike bridging social capital, which is looser ties across different groups.
• Social capital, a property of networks, trust, and reciprocity, rather than financial capital, which is money and assets.
• Social capital, a community-level resource, whereas individual social support is the help available from one's own personal contacts specifically.

• Bridging capital describes ties between different but similarly placed groups.
• Strong community ties are generally associated with lower rather than higher crime.
• Durkheim studied social integration and suicide.
• Goffman described total institutions and stigma.
• Parsons described the sick role.

• Name the learning, social or research principle being tested before reading the options.
• Identify the antecedent, behaviour, consequence or cognitive process in the vignette.
• Compare the direction of effect with the nearest competing principle.
• Apply the same rule to a new example to confirm that the answer transfers.