Dynamic social network analysis of a brief alcohol intervention trial in heavy-drinking college students shows spillover effects.

Background: Heavy-drinking college students tend to have close social networks, and there is theoretical and empirical support for the idea that behavior change can spread through those networks via close ties. The objective of this research was to determine whether intervention-induced behavior change in a subset of heavy drinkers in a sociometric (whole) college class-year social network is transmitted to other heavy drinkers in the network, resulting in reduced behavioral risk and change in network ties.

Methods: We conducted a controlled trial in which most of a first-year college class (N = 1236; 56.

Social Networks and Sexual and Gender Minority Disparities in Alcohol Use and Consequences Among First-Year College Students.

In this work, we investigate the association between social relationships and alcohol use and the related consequences of sexual and gender minority (SGM) college students, and we highlight the importance of SGM social networks as a potential protective factor among SGM college students. The study used data from 1340 students (47.2% White and non-Hispanic, 55.

Identification and Description of Potentially Influential Social Network Members using the Strategic Player Approach.

: Diffusion of innovations theory posits that ideas and behaviors can be spread through social network ties. In intervention work, intervening upon certain network members may lead to intervention effects "diffusing" into the network to affect the behavior of network members who did not receive the intervention. The strategic players (SP) method, an extension of Borgatti's Key Players approach, is used to balance the (sometimes) opposing goals of spreading the intervention to as many members of the target group as possible, while preventing the spread of the intervention to others.

Do misperceptions of peer drinking influence personal drinking behavior? Results from a complete social network of first-year college students.

This study considered the influence of misperceptions of typical versus self-identified important peers' heavy drinking on personal heavy drinking intentions and frequency utilizing data from a complete social network of college students. The study sample included data from 1,313 students (44% male, 57% White, 15% Hispanic/Latinx) collected during the fall and spring semesters of their freshman year. Students provided perceived heavy drinking frequency for a typical student peer and up to 10 identified important peers.

U.S. College Students' Social Network Characteristics and Perceived Social Exclusion: A Comparison Between Drinkers and Nondrinkers Based on Past-Month Alcohol Use.

Objective: There is a general perception on college campuses that alcohol use is normative. However, nondrinking students account for 40% of the U.S.

Enrollment and assessment of a first-year college class social network for a controlled trial of the indirect effect of a brief motivational intervention.

Unlabelled: Heavy drinking and its consequences among college students represent a serious public health problem, and peer social networks are a robust predictor of drinking-related risk behaviors. In a recent trial, we administered a Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) to a small number of first-year college students to assess the indirect effects of the intervention on peers not receiving the intervention.

Objectives: To present the research design, describe the methods used to successfully enroll a high proportion of a first-year college class network, and document participant characteristics.

Strategic Players for Identifying Optimal Social Network Intervention Subjects.

We present a method whereby social network ties are used to identify behavioral leaders who are situated in the network such that these individuals are: 1) able to influence other individuals who are in need of and most receptive to intervention, thereby maximizing the impact of the intervention; and 2) not embedded with ties that are likely to be behaviorally antagonistic to the intervention or that would compromise the optimal evaluation of intervention efficacy. In this study we developed a novel method which we call Strategic Players, which is a solution for identifying a set of players who are close to a target subset of the network (i.e.

Relationships between social network characteristics, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences in a large network of first-year college students: How do peer drinking norms fit in?

A burgeoning area of research is using social network analysis to investigate college students' substance use behaviors. However, little research has incorporated students' perceived peer drinking norms into these analyses. The present study investigated the association between social network characteristics, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences among first-year college students ( = 1,342; 81% of the first-year class) at one university.

Minority Stressors Associated with Sexual Risk Behaviors and HIV Testing in a U.S. Sample of Transgender Individuals.

The majority of published research on transgender health focuses on associations between external minority stressors (e.g., discrimination) and health.

Resistance to peer influence moderates the relationship between perceived (but not actual) peer norms and binge drinking in a college student social network.

Introduction: Adolescent and young adult binge drinking is strongly associated with perceived social norms and the drinking behavior that occurs within peer networks. The extent to which an individual is influenced by the behavior of others may depend upon that individual's resistance to peer influence (RPI).

Methods: Students in their first semester of college (N=1323; 54.

An event- and network-level analysis of college students' maximum drinking day.

Background: Heavy episodic drinking is common among college students and remains a serious public health issue. Previous event-level research among college students has examined behaviors and individual-level characteristics that drive consumption and related consequences but often ignores the social network of people with whom these heavy drinking episodes occur. The main aim of the current study was to investigate the network of social connections between drinkers on their heaviest drinking occasions.

Fixed choice design and augmented fixed choice design for network data with missing observations.

The statistical analysis of social networks is increasingly used to understand social processes and patterns. The association between social relationships and individual behaviors is of particular interest to sociologists, psychologists, and public health researchers. Several recent network studies make use of the fixed choice design (FCD), which induces missing edges in the network data.

Distinct Coping Profiles Are Associated With Mental Health Differences in Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults.

Objective: This study assessed the unique coping strategies of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals in the United States used to manage gender-related stress, and examined associations between specific coping profiles and mental health.

Methods: Data were from 316 participants in the 2014-2015 Transgender Stress and Health Study, an online study of TGNC mental and sexual health. A factor analysis of the coping measure (Brief COPE) was followed by a k-means cluster analysis to evaluate distinct profiles of coping with gender-related stress.

Bayesian Peer Calibration with Application to Alcohol Use.

Peers are often able to provide important additional information to supplement self-reported behavioral measures. The study motivating this work collected data on alcohol in a social network formed by college students living in a freshman dormitory. By using two imperfect sources of information (self-reported and peer-reported alcohol consumption), rather than solely self-reports or peer-reports, we are able to gain insight into alcohol consumption on both the population and the individual level, as well as information on the discrepancy of individual peer-reports.

The relevance of network prominence and reciprocity of relationships for alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in a college residence hall network.

Peer associations are influential for substance use among college students, but relatively few investigations have been conducted on the social network characteristics that are associated with problematic alcohol use in college. This study investigated the association between network characteristics of prestige, expansiveness, and reciprocity and alcohol use variables in a college residence hall network. Undergraduate students in 1 residence hall (N = 129; 51.

Peer associations for substance use and exercise in a college student social network.

Unlabelled: Substance use and exercise have opposite trajectories in young adulthood, and research indicates that peers are influential for both of these health behaviors, but simultaneous investigations of peer associations with substance use and exercise have not been conducted.

Objective: Use a college residence hall peer network to examine associations between peer behaviors and alcohol use, marijuana use, and exercise behavior.

Method: 129 undergraduates (51.

Repeated changes in reported sexual orientation identity linked to substance use behaviors in youth.

Purpose: Previous studies have found that sexual minority (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual) adolescents are at higher risk of substance use than heterosexuals, but few have examined how changes in sexual orientation over time may relate to substance use.

Age-gaps in sexual partnerships: seeing beyond 'sugar daddies'.

We examine for the first time age-mixing in sexual relationships in a population with very high HIV incidence and prevalence in rural South Africa. The highest levels of age assortativity (the pairing of like with like) were casual partnerships reported by men, the lowest levels were spousal relationships reported by women. Given the age-sex distribution of HIV prevalence in this population, interventions to decrease age-gaps in spousal relationships may be effective in reducing HIV incidence.

Stability and change in self-reported sexual orientation identity in young people: application of mobility metrics.

This study investigated stability and change in self-reported sexual orientation identity over time in youth. We describe gender- and age-related changes in sexual orientation identity from early adolescence through emerging adulthood in 13,840 youth ages 12-25 employing mobility measure M, a measure we modified from its original application for econometrics. Using prospective data from a large, ongoing cohort of U.