Trust and distress in three generations of rural Australians

Objectives: Social connectedness has been associated with mental health outcomes. One study proposed that social connectedness influences mental health only indirectly because it is associated with a protective factor - trust. Trust is typically measured using the one-item measure in the World Values Survey (WVS). There are methodological difficulties associated with this measure and thus with interpreting findings. The aims of this study are to evaluate two approaches to measuring trust and to elaborate on the relationship between trust and distress. Methods: A random sample of 969 members of a rural community completed an anonymous self-report postal questionnaire including the Organisational Trust Inventory (OTI), the World Values Survey measure and the K10 as a measure of general psychological distress. Results: The OTI produced the more powerful and richer explanation of the relationship between trust and distress. Overall, women reported greater trust than men, and older Australians reported less distress and greater trust than younger people. Greater trust was associated with less distress, but the patterns of association differed between age generations. Conclusions: This research highlights the importance of trust for mental health. Generational differences in the extent and meaning of trust have implications for social policy and planning.