en Epidemiology Epidemiology Original Research Original Research <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background: </strong>Social capital has been defined as norms, networks, and social links that facilitate collective actions. Social capital is related to a number of main social and public health variables. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the factors associated with social capital among the residents of Tehran, Iran.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&nbsp; Methods</strong>: In this large cross-sectional population-based study, 31531 residents aged 20 years and above were selected through multi-stage sampling method from 22 districts of Tehran in 2011. The social capital questionnaire, 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) were used. Hypothetical causal models were designed to identify the pathways through which different variables influenced the components of social capital. Then, path analysis was conducted for identifying the determinants of social capital.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&nbsp; Results</strong>: The most influential variables in &lsquo;individual trust&rsquo; were job status (&beta;=0.37, p=0.02), marital status (&beta;=0.32, p=0.01), Physical Component Summary (PCS) (&beta;=0.37, p=0.02), and age (&beta;=0.34, p=0.03). On the other hand, education level (&beta;=0.34, p=0.01), age (&beta;=0.33, p=0.02), marital status (&beta;=0.33, p=0.01), and job status (&beta;=0.32, p=0.01) were effective in &lsquo;cohesion and social support&rsquo;. Additionally, age (&beta;=0.18, p=0.02), PCS (&beta;=0.36, p=0.01), house ownership (&beta;=0.23, p=0.03), and mental health (&beta;=0.26, p=0.01) were influential in &lsquo;social trust/collective relations&rsquo;.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&nbsp; Conclusion</strong>: Social capital can be improved in communities by planning to improve education and occupation status, paying more attention to strengthening family bonds, and provision of local facilities and neighborhood bonds to reduce migration within the city.&nbsp;</p> Path analysis, Social capital, Individual trust, Social trust, Social support. 818 826 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-1047&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohsen Asadi-Lari mohsen.asadi@yahoo.com 200319475328460025275 200319475328460025275 No Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Jafar Hassanzadeh jhasanzad@sums.ac.ir 200319475328460025276 200319475328460025276 No Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Mansour Torabinia torabinia.m@dums.ac.ir 200319475328460025277 200319475328460025277 No School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran. Mohammad Reza Vaez-Mahdavi vaezmahdavi@shahed.ac.ir 200319475328460025278 200319475328460025278 No Department of Physiology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. Ali Montazeri montazeri@acecr.ac.ir 200319475328460025279 200319475328460025279 No Mental Health Research Group, Health Metrics Research Center, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran. Haleh Ghaem halehghaem@yahoo.com 200319475328460025280 200319475328460025280 No Research Center for Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Rostam Menati rostammenati@yahoo.com 200319475328460025281 200319475328460025281 No Prevention of Psychosocial Injuries Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran. Mohsen Niazi niazim@kashanu.ac.ir 200319475328460025282 200319475328460025282 No Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran. Aziz Kassani kassani.a@dums.ac.ir 200319475328460025283 200319475328460025283 Yes School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran.