Typologies of duocentric networks among low-income newlywed couples.
Netw Sci (Camb Univ Press)
; 11(4): 632-656, 2023 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38223900
ABSTRACT
The social networks surrounding intimate couples provide them with bonding and bridging social capital and have been theorized to be associated with their well-being and relationship quality. These networks are multidimensional, featuring compositional (e.g., the proportion of family members vs. friends) and structural characteristics (e.g., density, degree of overlap between spouses' networks). Most previous studies of couple networks are based on partners' global ratings of their network characteristics or network data collected from one member of the dyad. This study presents the analysis of "duocentric networks" or the combined personal networks of both members of a couple, collected from 207 mixed-sex newlywed couples living in low-income neighborhoods of Harris County, TX. We conducted a pattern-centric analysis of compositional and structural features to identify distinct types of couple networks. We identified five qualitatively distinct network types (wife family-focused, husband family-focused, shared friends, wife friend-focused, and extremely disconnected). Couples' network types were associated with the quality of the relationships between couples and their network contacts (e.g., emotional support) but not with the quality of the couples' relationship with each other. We argue that duocentric networks provide appropriate data for measuring bonding and bridging capital in couple networks.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Netw Sci (Camb Univ Press)
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos