Psychometric Validation of the Brief Alcohol Social Density Assessment in an Adult Community Sample.

Background: Individuals' social networks exert a strong influence on alcohol use, but valid assessment of network drinking behavior is typically lengthy and high in participant burden. The aim of this study was to validate the Brief Alcohol Social Density Assessment (BASDA), an efficient measure of perceived alcohol use within a person's social network, in a sample of adult drinkers from the general community. Specifically, the convergent, criterion-related, incremental validity and internal validity were investigated by examining the BASDA in relation to other established measures of drinking motives, weekly drinking level, and severity of involvement.

Disordered eating in college sorority women: A social network analysis of a subset of members from a single sorority chapter.

Objective: Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors are prevalent among college women, and peers appear to influence current and future eating pathology. Social network analysis (SNA) is an innovative quantitative method to examine relationships (i.e.

Social disadvantage and borderline personality disorder: A study of social networks.

Examining differences in social integration, social support, and relationship characteristics in social networks may be critical for understanding the character and costs of the social difficulties experienced of borderline personality disorder (BPD). We conducted an ego-based (self-reported, individual) social network analysis of 142 participants recruited from clinical and community sources. Each participant listed the 30 most significant people (called alters) in their social network, then rated each alter in terms of amount of contact, social support, attachment strength and negative interactions.

A social network analysis approach to alcohol use and co-occurring addictive behavior in young adults.

Introduction: The current study applied egocentric social network analysis (SNA) to investigate the prevalence of addictive behavior and co-occurring substance use in college students' networks. Specifically, we examined individuals' perceptions of the frequency of network members' co-occurring addictive behavior and investigated whether co-occurring addictive behavior is spread evenly throughout networks or is more localized in clusters. We also examined differences in network composition between individuals with varying levels of alcohol use.

An examination of the perceptions of social network characteristics associated with grandiose and vulnerable narcissism.

Two dimensions of narcissism exist, grandiose and vulnerable, which are thought to be associated with distinctly different patterns of interpersonal behavior. Social network analysis is a way of quantifying and analyzing interpersonal interactions that may prove useful for characterizing the networks associated with these narcissism dimensions. In the current study, participants (N = 148) completed scales assessing both narcissism dimensions and a measure of the five-factor model of personality.

Brief report: The Brief Alcohol Social Density Assessment (BASDA): convergent, criterion-related, and incremental validity.

Objective: Alcohol misuse is substantially influenced by social factors, but systematic assessments of social network drinking are typically lengthy. The goal of the present study was to provide further validation of a brief measure of social network alcohol use, the Brief Alcohol Social Density Assessment (BASDA), in a sample of emerging adults. Specifically, the study sought to examine the BASDA's convergent, criterion, and incremental validity in relation to well-established measures of drinking motives and problematic drinking.

Variability in personality expression across contexts: a social network approach.

The current research investigated how the contextual expression of personality differs across interpersonal relationships. Two related studies were conducted with college samples (Study 1: N = 52, 38 female; Study 2: N = 111, 72 female). Participants in each study completed a five-factor measure of personality and constructed a social network detailing their 30 most important relationships.

Egocentric social network analysis of pathological gambling.

Aims: To apply social network analysis (SNA) to investigate whether frequency and severity of gambling problems were associated with different network characteristics among friends, family and co-workers is an innovative way to look at relationships among individuals; the current study was the first, to our knowledge, to apply SNA to gambling behaviors.

Design: Egocentric social network analysis was used to characterize formally the relationships between social network characteristics and gambling pathology.

Setting: Laboratory-based questionnaire and interview administration.

Social density of gambling and its association with gambling problems: an initial investigation.

The role of social factors in pathological gambling has received relatively little systematic research. The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between a target individual's gambling behavior and the gambling behavior among that individual's parents, siblings and five closest friends. The specific aims were, first, to apply a novel brief assessment to study the social density of factors relating to pathological gambling; second, to replicate previously observed findings involving the social aggregation of alcohol and tobacco use; and third, to examine social density findings among the three domains.

Self-reported personality variability across the social network is associated with interpersonal dysfunction.

We describe 2 studies (n=52 and n=82) examining variability in perceptions of personality using a social network methodology. Undergraduate participants completed self-report measures of personality and interpersonal dysfunction and then subsequently reported on their personalities with each of 30 members of their social networks. Results across the 2 studies found substantial variability in participants' perceived personalities within their social networks.

Personality Disorder in Social Networks: Network Position as a Marker of Interpersonal Dysfunction.

The present study investigated social network position as a marker of interpersonal functioning in personality disorders. Participants were groups of military recruits (N=809) in 21 training groups. Participants completed self- and informant-versions of the Multisource Assessment of Personality Pathology, acting as both targets and judges in a round-robin design.

Improving assessment of personality disorder traits through social network analysis.

When assessing personality disorder traits, not all judges make equally valid judgments of all targets. The present study uses social network analysis to investigate factors associated with reliability and validity in peer assessment. Participants were groups of military recruits (N=809) who acted as both targets and judges in a round-robin design.

Social networks in borderline personality disorder.

The interpersonal dysfunction that characterizes borderline personality disorder (BPD) has generally been studied using broad global measures, leading to a lack of precision. We report on a novel methodology using social network analysis (SNA) to quantify interactions with others in the patient's social world. We assessed the social networks of 22 clinical patients, diagnosed with either BPD (N = 11) or no personality disorder (No PD; N = 11).

Evidence for a single latent class of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders borderline personality pathology.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been described as clinically heterogeneous, with numerous subtypes of the disorder posited. The present study investigated this potential heterogeneity by conducting both confirmatory factor analysis and latent class analysis of consensus ratings of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Revised Third Edition BPD criteria in a mixed clinical and nonclinical sample (n = 411). Confirmatory factor analysis results suggested that a single factor fit the data most parsimoniously.

Self- and other-reports of traits from the five-factor model: relations to personality disorder.

The current study used a psychiatric sample (N = 69) to examine: (1) the correspondence between self- and other-reports of general personality, as measured by the Five-Factor Model (FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1990), and personality disorder (PD) traits, as measured by a structured interview, (2) the relations between these two sets of ratings (FFM and PD traits) and consensus ratings of PD and impairment, and (3) the incremental validity of other-rated personality scores. Agreement between raters for the five domains of the FFM ranged from .23 (agreeableness) to .

Self- and peer perspectives on pathological personality traits and interpersonal problems.

This study compares the relationship between personality disorders and interpersonal problems as obtained by self-report and peer-report measures. Participants (N = 393) were administered self- and peer-report versions of the Peer Inventory for Personality Disorder and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-64. Canonical analyses demonstrated similar relationships between personality disorder features and interpersonal problems as measured by either self or peer.