Social Network Effects in the Context of Adolescent Risk Behaviors

描述(由申请人提供)：我们建议：(1)解决与健康和健康相关行为有关的社会网络的基本问题；以及(2)通过使用创新的网络分析方法和最新的建模方法，开发创新的方法和技术，以促进、改进和扩展SNA的能力，以更好地了解学校同伴网络对6-12年级物质使用行为的影响。利用生态框架，我们将开发将AOD使用与同行网络和其他重要社会背景特征联系起来的模型。学校层面的分析、二元分析、轨迹分析和网络和行为的纵向共同进化模型将考察基于学校的同伴网络效应如何与物质使用相关，从而使我们能够确定哪些影响在这些行为中是共同的。将网络数据整合到促进生态视角的模型中，并与其他已知的心理社会风险因素一起建模网络效应，将有助于我们比以往任何时候都更全面地理解同伴如何影响物质使用行为。这项拟议的研究是第一次比较完整的和以自我为中心的研究设计，以评估网络数据收集策略是否以及如何引入错误和影响分析，将观察到的社会行为(例如，友谊)与健康方面(例如，AOD使用)联系起来。因此，它有望显著提高我们对这些设计的理解，促进它们的使用和扩大它们的应用。我们有独特的机会在伊利诺伊大学管理的正在进行的同伴关系纵向研究的背景下调查这些问题。这个数据集的一个显著特点是，在每个现有的WAVE收集了大约1232名青少年的完整的同伴网络信息(基于年级的友谊网络)和自我报告的AOD使用情况。我们将继续跟踪这一队列，直到12年级(另外两波数据收集)，以考察从6年级到12年级整个期间对等网络对AOD使用的影响。我们亦会从三所学校的其中一所学校收集以自我为中心(即个人)的网络数据，以评估以网络为基础的研究设计对了解同伴网络与青少年AOD使用之间的联系的影响。这项研究将产生一个史无前例的数据集用于分析，这将促进我们对同伴网络如何影响青少年AOD使用的了解，并为在公共卫生研究中应用新的SNA方法提供急需的信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to: (1) address "fundamental questions about social networks in relation to health and health-related behaviors"; and (2) "develop innovative methodologies and technologies to facilitate, improve, and expand the capabilities of SNA" by employing innovative network analytic methods and state-of-the-art modeling approaches to better understand school-based peer network effects on substance use behaviors from 6th-12th grade. Using an ecological framework, we will develop models linking AOD use to peer networks and other important features of the social context. School-level analyses, dyadic analyses, trajectory analyses and longitudinal co-evolutionary models for networks and behavior will examine how school-based peer network effects are related to substance use, allowing us to determine which effects are common across those behaviors. Integrating network data into models that facilitate an ecological perspective and modeling network effects alongside other known psychosocial risk factors will help us understand how peers influence substance use behaviors more fully than ever before. The proposed study is the first to compare complete and ego-centered study designs to assess whether and how network data collection strategies introduce error and affect analyses relating observed social behaviors (e.g., friendship) to aspects of health (e.g., AOD use). As such, it promises to significantly improve our understanding of these designs, facilitating their use and expanding their application. We have the unique opportunity to investigate these issues in the context of on an ongoing longitudinal study of peer relationships managed by the University of Illinois. A distinctive feature of this dataset is that complete peer network information (grade-based friendship networks) and self-reported AOD use have been collected at each of the existing waves for some 1232 adolescents. We will continue following this cohort through 12th grade (two additional waves of data collection) to examine the impact of peer networks on AOD use during the entire period from 6th-12th grade. We will also collect ego-centered (i.e., personal) network data from all students in one of the three schools to assess the impact of network-based study designs on understanding the link between peer networks and adolescent AOD use. This study will generate an unprecedented data set for analyses that will advance our knowledge of how peer networks shape AOD use in youth, and contribute much-needed information on the application of novel SNA methods in public health research.