Antecedents. The social capital has been considered an important factor through which the effect of the macro structural social causes for physical and mental health of the people could be partly understood. However, the studies in Latin America are limited.
Objective: Determine the possible associations of the dimensions of social capital with the level of psychological distress in the workers.
Materials and methods: The sample included 1557 workers from all economic areas. 65% were men, with an average age of 37,0 and 14,4 years of schooling. A survey was used and it was adapted and validated for this job. The psychological distress was measured with GHQ-12.
Results: The social capital survey showed good psychometric characteristics and it included three factors (trust, reciprocity, organization and community participation). Significant differences were shown for the level of trust and reciprocity by gender, age and years of schooling. In general, a correlation which was statistically significant was found between the level of psychological distress and the three dimensions of the social capital, especially in the subgroups of women of an intermediate age (41 to 60 years) who have attended primary school (9 to 12 years of schooling).
Conclusion: The social capital survey showed good psychometric properties which could be useful for other population studies. The association among the three dimensions of social capital with mental health was confirmed, specially in some subgroups. The development of social capital in our countries should be the motive behind public policies and regular evaluations.