Feedback About a Person's Social Context - Personal Networks and Daily Social Interactions.

The social context of a person, meaning their social relationships and daily social interactions, is an important factor for understanding their mental health. However, personalised feedback approaches to psychotherapy do not consider this factor sufficiently yet. Therefore, we developed an interactive feedback prototype focusing specifically on a person's social relationships as captured with personal social networks (PSN) and daily social interactions as captured with experience sampling methodology (ESM). We describe the development of the prototype as well as two evaluation studies: Semi-structured interviews with students (N = 23) and a focus group discussion with five psychotherapy patients. Participants from both studies considered the prototype useful. The students considered participation in our study, which included social context assessment via PSN and ESM as well as a feedback session, insightful. However, it remains unclear how much insight the feedback procedure generated for the students beyond the insights they already gained from the assessments. The focus group patients indicated that in a clinical context, (social context) feedback may be especially useful to generate insight for the clinician and facilitate collaboration between patient and clinician. Furthermore, it became clear that the current feedback prototype requires explanations by a researcher or trained clinician and cannot function as a stand-alone intervention. As such, we discuss our feedback prototype as a starting point for future research and clinical implementation.

[Social Networks of Children with Mental Disorders]. / Soziale Netzwerke von Kindern mit psychischen Störungen.

Social Networks of Children with Mental Disorders Abstract. The study compares the social networks of children with mental disorders with a matched control group (n = 75/75, male 69 %/69 %, age: 9.4/9.0 years). In addition, we examined the quantity and structure of social networks as well as the stresses and resources in the respective patient group in general and regarding specific disorders (hyperkinetic disorder, HKS, and childhood emotional disorder). We assessed their use of social networks with a revision of the Social Relationship Test for Children (SoBeKi-R) and their mental disorders via clinical diagnoses, CBCL, and SDQ. The patients reported significantly smaller networks overall and fewer social resources, particularly in the nonfamily domains. While children with emotional disorders were found to have fewer social strains than the comparison group, children with ADHD tended to have higher strain scores per network person, and externalizing symptoms were significantly associated with higher network strains. The results, which vary by disorder, suggest complex disorder-specific associations between the syndromes and the reported social network resources and strains.

Quality of Life and Multilevel Contact Network Structures Among Healthy Adults in Taiwan: Online Participatory Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: People's quality of life diverges on their demographics, socioeconomic status, and social connections. OBJECTIVE: By taking both demographic and socioeconomic features into account, we investigated how quality of life varied on social networks using data from both longitudinal surveys and contact diaries in a year-long (2015-2016) study. METHODS: Our 4-wave, repeated measures of quality of life followed the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-BREF). In our regression analysis, we integrated these survey measures with key time-varying and multilevel network indices based on contact diaries. RESULTS: People's quality of life may decrease if their daily contacts contain high proportions of weak ties. In addition, people tend to perceive a better quality of life when their daily contacts are face-to-face or initiated by others or when they contact someone who is in a good mood or someone with whom they can discuss important life issues. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings imply that both functional and structural aspects of the social network play important but different roles in shaping people's quality of life.

Egocentric network characteristics of people who inject drugs in the Chicago metro area and associations with hepatitis C virus and injection risk behavior.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C (HCV) infection has been rising in the suburban and rural USA, mainly via injection-based transmission. Injection and sexual networks are recognized as an important element in fostering and preventing risky behavior; however, the role of social support networks has received somewhat less attention. METHODS: Using baseline data from an ongoing longitudinal study, we examined the composition and structure of injection drug use (IDU), sex, and social support networks of young people who inject drugs (aged 18-30) and their injection network members. Lasso logistic regression was used to select a subset of network characteristics that were potentially important predictors of injection risk behaviors and HCV exposure. RESULTS: Several measures of IDU, sexual, and support network structure and composition were found to be associated with HCV exposure, receptive syringe sharing (RSS), and ancillary equipment sharing. Gender and sexual relationships were important factors for all risk behaviors. Support network characteristics were also important, notably including a protective effect of majority Hispanic support networks for RSS and HCV exposure. Both IDU network residence heterogeneity and support network geography were associated with injection equipment sharing. CONCLUSIONS: The associations of IDU and support network geography with equipment sharing highlight the need to extend harm reduction efforts beyond urban areas. Greater understanding of support network influences on risk behavior may provide important insights to strengthen the benefits of harm reduction. In considering the probability of HCV transmission, it is important to consider setting and network structures that promote propagation of risk.

Innovation diffusion: how homogenous networks influence the uptake of community-based injectable contraceptives.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that social networks influence health behaviors, including the adoption of health innovations. This study explored the potential for early adopters of community health worker-delivered injectable contraceptives (CHWDIC) to influence the uptake of this innovation by women in their social networks. METHODS: This Social Network Analysis (SNA) study was conducted in Gombe, Nigeria. Twenty women who were early adopters of the CHWDIC were recruited. Each participant (ego) listed ten women of reproductive age (alters) with whom they related. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect from each ego, data about the nature of her relationship with each alter (ego-alter relationship), whether she talked about CHWDIC with each alter, and whether her listed alters talked to each other about CHWDIC (alter-alter relationship). Data were also collected on age, marital status and education level for each ego and alter. Data were analyzed with UCINET social network analysis software. Variables of interest include homophilia (similarity), density (number of ties as a proportion of possible ties), degree (popularity) and betweeness (frequency of connecting actor pairs who otherwise might not communicate). RESULTS: There were 20 egos and 200 alters. Between two thirds (alters) and three quarters (egos) of the women were 30 years or older. All of the egos and 196 (98%) of alters were married. Most of the networks had similar (homophilic) actors according to certain sociodemographic characteristics - ethnicity, age, education and type of marriage. More than 90% of the networks had density greater than 50%, suggesting high cohesion in most networks. The majority of actors in these networks used injectable contraceptives. In some of the networks, few actors with the highest prominence (betweeness centrality) were not users of injectable contraceptives. CONCLUSION: The study illustrates the application and feasibility of ego SNA in identifying champions and opinion leaders among women of reproductive age group. It also shows the influence of social networks on the diffusion of community-based injectable contraceptives, and how homophilic and dense networks may have positive health externality. The interrelatedness of network members' decision to adopt a health innovation was also demonstrated by the findings of this study.

Social Networks and the Emergence of Health Inequalities Following a Medical Advance: Examining Prenatal H1N1 Vaccination Decisions.

Health inequalities persist, in part, because people in socioeconomically advantageous positions possess resources to avoid new health risks when medicine advances. Although these health decisions rarely occur in isolation, we know less about the specific role of networks. We examine whether social capital mediates the relationship between individual educational attainment and decisions about a medical advance: H1N1 vaccination during pregnancy. Building on prior work that defines social capital as the resources of network members, we examine two mechanisms through which social capital may affect health decisions, facilitating information flow and exerting influence. Using egocentric network data collected from 225 pregnant women during the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic, we measure social capital as the proportion of networks that are college-educated H1N1 discussants (information flow) and the proportion of college-educated H1N1 supporters (influence). Findings reveal that college-educated women knew more college-educated H1N1 discussants and supporters. Further, both measures of social capital predicted higher probabilities of vaccination, with the latter mechanism emerging as a particularly strong predictor. Our findings provide evidence that health decisions are shaped by individual resources as well as social capital available through network ties, offering a unique perspective of the ways that social networks contribute to producing, and potentially reproducing, unequal health.

Personalized networks? How the Big Five personality traits influence the structure of egocentric networks.

In this paper, we expand previous research on the psychological foundations of social behavior by evaluating the role of the Big Five personality traits with regard to the formation of individual social networks. More precisely, we ask if personality traits significantly relate to individuals' social integration and position in their ego-network. While studies on both social capital formation and the impact of personality traits on social and political behavior have been flourishing in recent years, little is known about the main effects of personality traits, namely openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and emotional stability, on the characteristics of social ties as well as the agency of egos in their networks. To test our research question, we rely on data from a Swiss population survey carried out in 2005 that combines detailed information on ties in egocentric networks and personality traits for about 1600 respondents. We show that neurotic persons have a tendency towards triad structures encompassing structural holes, whereas extroverted persons show a preference for networks with stronger ties. Moreover, our findings support the potential relationship between the three hitherto neglected personality traits - agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness - with personal networks structures.

Difficult People: Who Is Perceived to Be Demanding in Personal Networks and Why Are They There?

Why do people maintain ties with individuals whom they find difficult? Standard network theories imply that such alters are avoided or dropped. Drawing on a survey of over 1,100 diverse respondents who described over 12,000 relationships, we examined which among those ties respondents nominated as a person whom they "sometimes find demanding or difficult." Those so listed composed about 15 percent of all alters in the network. After holding ego and alter traits constant, close kin, especially women relatives and aging parents, were especially likely to be named as difficult alters. Non-kin described as friends were less, and those described as co-workers more, likely to be listed only as difficult alters. These results suggest that normative and institutional constraints may force people to retain difficult and demanding alters in their networks. We also found that providing support to alters, but not receiving support from those alters, was a major source of difficulty in these relationships. Furthermore, the felt burden of providing support was not attenuated by receiving assistance, suggesting that alters involved in reciprocated exchanges were not less often labeled difficult than were those in unreciprocated ones. This study underlines the importance of constraints in personal networks.

Why Name Generators with a Fixed Number of Alters may be a Pragmatic Option for Personal Network Analysis.

Social network analysis has grown exponentially in recent years, giving rise to methodological innovations in different scientific disciplines. In psychology, social network analysis has been incorporated into studies of individual personality differences and has generated novel areas, such as network psychometrics and network interventions. In community psychology, a recent review examined the use of network analysis in American Journal of Community Psychology publications (Neal & Neal, American Journal of Community Psychology, 2017, 60, 279). Based on their study, the authors advise researchers to avoid using the fixed-choice name generator when possible, as one of the five methodological recommendations proposed. In this essay, I explain how the recent increase of name generators with a fixed number of alters when studying personal networks is originally linked to an interest in describing structural properties. Second, I analyze the pragmatic contributions of this method: establishing a limit of alters a priori can entail advantages in terms of standardization and comparability of personal networks. Finally, to contextualize the methodological debate, I argue that personal networks represent the diversity of contexts in which the individual participates and are naturally integrated into community surveys.

Understanding Changes in Social Cannabis Use among Young Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Social Network Analysis.

Introduction: As the COVID-19 pandemic has caused historic morbidity and mortality and disrupted young people's social relationships, little is known regarding change in young adults' social cannabis use following social distancing orders, or other factors associated with such changes before and during the pandemic. Methods: 108 young adult cannabis users in Los Angeles reported on their personal (egocentric) social network characteristics, cannabis use, and pandemic-related variables before (July 2019 - March 2020) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2020 - August 2021). Multinomial logistic regression identified factors associated with increasing or maintaining the number of network members (alters) participants used cannabis with before and during the pandemic. Multilevel modeling identified ego- and alter-level factors associated with dyadic cannabis use between each ego and alter during the pandemic. Results: Most participants (61%) decreased the number of alters they used cannabis with, 14% maintained, and 25% increased. Larger networks were associated with a lower risk of increasing (vs. decreasing); more supportive cannabis-using alters was associated with a lower risk of maintaining (vs. decreasing); relationship duration was associated with a greater risk of maintaining and increasing (vs. decreasing). During the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2020 - August 2021), participants were more likely to use cannabis with alters they also used alcohol with and alters who were perceived to have more positive attitudes towards cannabis. Conclusions: The present study identifies significant factors associated with changes in young adults' social cannabis use following pandemic-related social distancing. These findings may inform social network interventions for young adults who use cannabis with their network members amid such social restrictions.

Polarization in COVID-19 Vaccine Discussion Networks.

The emergence of COVID-19 spurred the fastest development of a vaccine in history. Yet, a large proportion of Americans remain hesitant to receive it. Our paper investigates how the social networks we inhabit might explain persistent vaccine hesitancy. We argue that the COVID-19 vaccination status of respondents' closest associates inhibits or motivates their decision to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. To test our argument, we conduct an original survey asking respondents a battery of questions about the people with whom individuals most frequently discuss vaccines and COVID-19. Our survey reports that individuals' discussion networks are polarized by vaccination status. Concurrently, there is a strong association between the social network's vaccination status and the respondent's vaccination status. This association is so robust that partisanship does not moderate the association between discussants' vaccination status and respondents' vaccination status. Together, our results imply that unvaccinated individuals remain hesitant because they face reinforcing social pressure from their closest associates. The unique timing of our survey, during an unprecedented vaccination campaign against a novel disease, offers a snapshot of how relationships may affect attitudes.

Associations Between Sexual Assault Victimization and Risky Drinking Within College Women's Personal Networks.

Within a sample of college women, this study assessed if an individual's (i.e., ego) history of sexual assault was related to her connecting with risky drinkers, and if her social contacts (i.e., alters) who had experienced sexual assault were also people who engaged in risky drinking. Results suggest ego's history of sexual assault was associated with her connecting to risky drinkers. Generally, egos reported alters who experienced sexual assault were more likely to drink in higher quantities, except when the ego and alter both had experienced sexual assault. Findings highlight the importance of social connections for survivors of sexual assault.

Causal Relationships between Personal Networks and Health: A Comparison of Three Modeling Strategies.

Prior research documents associations between personal network characteristics and health, but establishing causation has been a long-standing research priority. To evaluate approaches to causal inference in egocentric network data, this article uses three waves from the University of California Berkeley Social Networks Study (N = 1,159) to investigate connections between nine network variables and two global health outcomes. We compare three modeling strategies: cross-sectional ordinary least squares regression, regression with lagged dependent variables (LDVs), and hybrid fixed and random effects models. Results suggest that cross-sectional and LDV models may overestimate the causal effects of networks on health because hybrid models show that network-health associations operate primarily between individuals, as opposed to network changes causing within-individual changes in health. These findings demonstrate uses of panel data that may advance scholarship on networks and health and suggest that causal effects of network support on health may be more limited than previously thought.

Public Stigma and Personal Networks: Confronting the Limitations of Unidimensional Measures of Social Contact.

One of the most promising directions for reducing mental illness stigma lies in Allport's contact theory, which suggests that intergroup interactions reduce stigma. Here, we argue that stigmatizing attitudes are driven by the nature, magnitude, and valence of community-based ties to people with mental illness (PMI), not simply their presence. Using the 2018 General Social Survey (N = 1,113), we compare network-based measures of contact to traditional survey indicators. We find that knowing someone with mental illness, or even number of people known, explains little about desire for social distance, perceptions of dangerousness, or endorsement of treatment coercion. However, having stronger relationships with more PMI, having more friends and family (but not more peripheral ties) with mental illness, and knowing people in treatment are associated with less stigma endorsement. In contrast, we find that exposure to PMI who are perceived as dangerous is associated with greater levels of stigma.

Social networks, group exercise, and anxiety among college students.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between group exercise membership, social network characteristics, and general state anxiety in a sample of college students. Participants: 490 undergraduates from a private university in the southern US participated in the study. Methods: An egocentric network analysis was conducted to test whether demographic variables, leisure-time physical activity, group exercise membership, flourishing scores, and network variables were related to anxiety. Results: Regression analyses (R2 = .174, F = 7.650, p < .0001) suggest group exercise membership (ß = -.105, p = .034) and flourishing scores (ß = -.342, p < .0001) were related to lower anxiety scores, while being a racial/ethnic minority (ß = .094, p = .036), and having personal networks composed of more people who exercise often (ß = .100, p = .025), were related to higher anxiety scores in this sample. Conclusions: Findings suggest a connection between group exercise membership, activity habits of peers, and anxiety. Encouraging group exercise participation could be an effective way of combating anxiety for college students.

Using the Think-Aloud Method to Assess the Feasibility and Acceptability of Network Canvas Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Persons: Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Characteristics of an individual's social network have been important factors in understanding infectious disease transmission patterns. Social network data collection is generally time and resource intensive, yet it is crucial to our understanding of the complex epidemiologic landscape of human behaviors among stigmatized social groups. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a self-administered social network data collection tool, Network Canvas, among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) and transgender persons using the think-aloud method, which is a robust and flexible research technique used to perform usability testing. METHODS: We piloted a self-administered network interview within the Network Canvas Software Suite. Participants aged 18 years and older were recruited through a community-based organization in Atlanta, GA, and were included based upon their willingness to share information on sexual behaviors and drug use for themselves and their social networks. A semistructured interview guide was used to document cognitive decision-making processes while using the tool. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, and thematic analyses were performed. RESULTS: Among 7 BMSM and transgender participants, three main themes were identified from cognitive processes: (1) the utility, (2) navigation, and (3) intuitive design of Network Canvas. Overall, Network Canvas was described as "easy to use," with suggestions mainly directed toward improving navigation tools and implementing an initial tutorial on the program prior to use. Participants were willing to use Network Canvas to document their social networks and characteristics. In general, observed verbal responses from participants matched their behavior, although there were some discrepancies between verbal affirmations of use and understanding versus external observation. CONCLUSIONS: We found Network Canvas to be a useful new tool to capture social network data. Self-administration allowed participants the opportunity to provide sensitive information about themselves and their social networks. Furthermore, automated name generation and visualization of an individuals' social network in the app has the potential to reduce cognitive burden during data collection. More efficient methods of social network data collection have the potential to provide epidemiologic information to guide prevention efforts for populations with stigmatized health conditions or behaviors.

Is having an educationally diverse social network good for health?

While network research often focuses on social integration as a predictor of health, a less-explored idea is that connections to dissimilar others may benefit well-being. As such, this study investigates whether network diversity is associated with changes in four health outcomes over a 3-year period of time in the U.S.A. Specifically, we focus on how an underexplored measure of network diversity-educational attainment assortativity-is associated with common self-reported outcomes: propensity to exercise, body-mass index, mental health, and physical health. We extend prior research by conducting multilevel analyses using this measure of diversity while adjusting for a range of socio-demographic and network confounders. Data are drawn from a longitudinal probability sample of U.S. adults (n = 10, 679) in which respondents reported information about themselves and eight possible alters during three yearly surveys (2013-2015). We find, first, that higher educational attainment is associated with more educationally insular networks, while less-educated adults have more educationally diverse networks. Results further suggest that having educationally similar networks is associated with higher body-mass index among the less educated. Further exploration of the relationship between ego network diversity, tie strength, and health is warranted.

Out of Sync, Out of Society: Political Beliefs and Social Networks.

Who is more likely to be isolated from society in terms of political beliefs? To answer this question, we measure whether individuals' beliefs are "out of sync" - the extent to which their views differ with their contemporaries - and examine how the level of synchronization is associated with the size of important-matter and political-matter discussion networks. The results show that people with weaker belief synchronization are more likely to have smaller important-matter discussion networks. However, additional analyses of political-matter discussion networks show that weaker belief synchronization is associated with smaller networks only among those without a high school diploma and even provides some advantage in maintaining larger networks for the college-educated. Overall, the results imply that political beliefs that are "out of sync" correspond to the individual being "out of society," whereas the aspects of "out of society" are quite different among educational groups.

They Drive Me Crazy: Difficult Social Ties and Subjective Well-Being.

Using egocentric network data from the University of California Social Networks Study (1,136 respondents; 11,536 alters), this study examines how difficult ties-an unexplored form of social negativity-are associated with well-being. Findings show that well-being is affected by the quality of the relationship rather than its presence in the network. Having a nondifficult partner is associated with lower loneliness compared to having no partner, but having no partner and having a difficult partner are related to similar levels of loneliness. Likewise, having difficult adult children and having no adult children are associated with reporting greater psychological distress than having nondifficult adult children. Consistent with the stress process model, the negative association of a difficult partner with well-being is buffered when that partner is otherwise supportive and when the other ties in the network are supportive. However, that association is amplified when the other ties are also difficult.

Assessing the stability of egocentric networks over time using the digital participant-aided sociogram tool Network Canvas.

This paper examines the stability of egocentric networks as reported over time using a novel touchscreen-based participant-aided sociogram. Past work has noted the instability of nominated network alters, with a large proportion leaving and reappearing between interview observations. To explain this instability of networks over time, researchers often look to structural embeddedness, namely the notion that alters are connected to other alters within egocentric networks. Recent research has also asked whether the interview situation itself may play a role in conditioning respondents to what might be the appropriate size and shape of a social network, and thereby which alters ought to be nominated or not. We report on change in these networks across three waves and assess whether this change appears to be the result of natural churn in the network or whether changes might be the result of factors in the interview itself, particularly anchoring and motivated underreporting. Our results indicate little change in average network size across waves, particularly for indirect tie nominations. Slight, significant changes were noted between waves one and two particularly among those with the largest networks. Almost no significant differences were observed between waves two and three, either in terms of network size, composition, or density. Data come from three waves of a Chicago-based panel study of young men who have sex with men.