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PubMed1984

The social networks of opioid abusers.

Using social network analysis, the pretreatment social networks of 106 street drug abusers are examined. While no significant sociodemographic differences are found between opioid and nonopioid abusers, eight significant univariate differences in the characteristics of their social networks are reported. Four of these differences account for 32% of the variation between the two groups of abusers. The social networks of opioid abusers appear significantly less conventional than those of nonopioid abusers; however, opioid abusers appear less committed to the values and behaviors displayed by their network members. Network reconstruction is discussed as an explicit, empirically supportable rehabilitation strategy.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Social networks and mental health service utilisation--a literature review.

Social networks have been shown to be smaller in individuals with severe mental illness than in the general population. Patients' social networks and social support may impact on their utilisation of psychiatric services. This literature review focuses on social networks, social support and mental health service use in patients with mental illness. Most studies suggest that smaller social networks or less social support are associated with more frequent hospitalisation. Qualitative aspects of the social network are also related to the risk of hospitalisation. The relationship between social networks and other types of service use is not established.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed2001

Social networks as support interventions following traumatic brain injury.

The social network and social support needs of people following traumatic brain injury (TBI) are considerable and related to both health outcomes and community integration. We review what is known of the structure of social networks following TBI and explore the relationship of these networks to social support and health. Social network interventions in TBI are described and discussed. Empirically based suggestions are given for the development of interventions based on culturally sensitive programmes which develop social networks and support in a naturalistic manner.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Integration within a transgender social network and its effect upon members' social and political activity.

The purpose of this study is to examine the male to female transgender social networks and how they influence social and political activity. Four Transgender organizations within Northeast Ohio were contacted for this study. Members were asked to complete a questionnaire and to mail it back. Few of the network elements were useful in predicting social and political activity. Network size has a positive effect upon a person's social and political activity, as did meeting attendance. This study suggests the importance of social networks for Trans-people.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Social network mapping with transplant recipients.

Social support can have great influence on health, well-being, and general quality of life To promote awareness of the social network that surrounds each transplant recipient, transplant social workers are now using the Social Network Map as an intervention. Because perceptions of availability and accessibility of support are key elements in the use of social network resources, awakening an individual's awareness of available resources is a significant first step in enhancing social support and, ultimately, quality of life. The Social Network Map is used to establish dialogue regarding individuals' needs and sources of support, and then how the support system can meet those needs. Transplant social workers thus foster active use of those people in transplant recipients' networks who can meet the particular needs recipients identify.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Network therapy: an outcome study of twelve social networks.

Twelve social networks received a course of network therapy at the Mount Tom Institute in Holyoke, Massachusetts, by the Network Therapy Project. A total of twenty-five 3-hour meetings included 201 participants. A study was conducted examining the number and type of service contacts in the clients' central medical files three months prior to the completion of network therapy and at two 3-months intervals after therapy was terminated. Entries were made in clients' charts by case managers, by crisis team staff, and by other mental health professionals. An historical comparison group was studied by randomly choosing 12 clients from the 19 referred for network therapy who did not receive this treatment. The comparison group showed an overall 17% decrease in service utilization after the date of referral, compared to a 76% decrease postnetwork therapy in the treatment group. The difference between the group outcomes was statistically significant.

Community Mental Health Services↗
PubMed1984

Social support and social network scales: a psychometric review.

Social support and social network scales were reviewed from a psychometric perspective. A sample of 29 behavioral science studies were selected from social support and social network articles published between 1967 and 1982. Each study was classified according to psychometric issues of scaling, reliability, and validity. The review was motivated by the hypothesis that many social support and social network scales are developed without complete utilization of existing measurement technology. Results of this review confirm this hypothesis. Limited availability of basic psychometric data for such scales attenuates theory development and research efficiency. Researchers in this field are encouraged to increase the availability of basic psychometric information for social support and social network scales.

Humans↗
PubMed1993

The relationship of social network deficits with deficits in social functioning in long-term psychiatric disorders.

It has been suggested that deficits or impairments in social functioning may explain the depleted support networks of the mentally ill. With this in mind, 145 long-term users of day care psychiatric facilities, 57% of whom had a life-time diagnosis of schizophrenia, were examined to determine whether deficits in social and survival skills explained deficits in their social networks. Compared with patients with acute depression, long-term patients had smaller social networks. There was a very small but statistically significant association between observer ratings of deficits in social functioning (daily social and living skills) and self-reported family social networks size. Behavioural problems were also associated with smaller family networks. Among the long-term patients, duration of service contact and type of disorder (affective vs nonaffective psychosis) were not related to network size. These preliminary findings are discussed.

Female↗
PubMed1998

Impact of community mental health services on users' social networks. PRiSM Psychosis Study. 7.

BACKGROUND: Social networks are important for people with severe mental illness, and services need to assess whether they succeed in improving social contacts. METHODS: In a prospective controlled study, social network data were obtained in an epidemiologically representative sample of people with psychotic disorders both before (Time 1) and two years after (Time 2) the introduction of two sectorised community mental health services in south London (one intensive service with two specialist teams, one standard service with a generic team). RESULTS: There were significant baseline differences between sectors with social networks being smaller in the sector later served by the intensive service. Social network size increased within the intensive service sector, but not in the standard service sector. There was a significant sector effect for the network component of relatives (intensive > standard) and in the other ('non friends') component (standard > intensive) after adjusting for baseline differences. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the intensive sector community mental health service enhanced people's social networks with their relatives, relative to the standard service. The reverse is the case for other contacts.

Community Mental Health Services↗
PubMed1988

Structural characteristics of social networks and their relationship with social support in the elderly: who provides support.

The analyses presented here examine relationships between structural characteristics of social networks and two types of support (instrumental and emotional support) in a sample of community-dwelling individuals aged 65 and older. For each type of support, two dimensions are examined (1) the availability of such support and (2) the perceived adequacy of that support. Regression models, adjusting for age, sex, race and income show that structural characteristics such as total network size, number of face-to-face contacts and number of proximal ties are associated with greater availability of both instrumental and emotional support. The perceived adequacy of both types of support is most strongly related to the number of monthly face-to-face contacts. Comparisons of specific types of ties show that neither ones' spouse nor ones' children are primary sources of support. Rather the presence of a confidant is strongly associated with both dimensions of instrumental and emotional support; the presence of a spouse is not. And, while ties with children are most strongly related to aspects of instrumental support, ties with close friends and relatives are more strongly related to aspects of emotional support. Analyses of possible interactions show that for those without a spouse, confidants assume greater importance in providing emotional support. For those without children, ties with close friends and relatives assume a larger role relative to the perceived adequacy of both emotional and instrumental support.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Structure of a large social network.

We study a social network consisting of over 10(4) individuals, with a degree distribution exhibiting two power scaling regimes separated by a critical degree k(crit), and a power law relation between degree and local clustering. We introduce a growing random model based on a local interaction mechanism that reproduces the observed scaling features and their exponents. We suggest that the double power law originates from two very different kinds of networks that are simultaneously present in the human social network.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Social networks and college drinking: probing processes of social influence and selection.

This study used a three-wave panel design (N = 119 complete cases for all waves) to test for social influence and selection in the relation of college students' heavy drinking and that of their social networks. Evidence emerged for both social influence and selection, leading the authors to probe more specialized issues related to each. Results regarding social influence revealed, further, that greater presence in the network of individuals that the focal respondent considered "drinking buddies" was predictive of one's own later drinking, controlling for potential confounds. Network demographic characteristics associated with a "risky" (i.e., heavy-drinking) network also were documented. An additional finding, important for selection, was that wave-to-wave change in average network drinking appeared to result primarily from network members with different drinking levels being added to and dropped from the network. Findings are discussed in the context of the recent renaissance in social-network research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Why social networks are different from other types of networks.

We argue that social networks differ from most other types of networks, including technological and biological networks, in two important ways. First, they have nontrivial clustering or network transitivity and second, they show positive correlations, also called assortative mixing, between the degrees of adjacent vertices. Social networks are often divided into groups or communities, and it has recently been suggested that this division could account for the observed clustering. We demonstrate that group structure in networks can also account for degree correlations. We show using a simple model that we should expect assortative mixing in such networks whenever there is variation in the sizes of the groups and that the predicted level of assortative mixing compares well with that observed in real-world networks.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Social networks: their relevance to mental health nursing.

Research into social networks has been advancing over several decades, originally in relation to the general population and more recently in relation to their influences on health and mental health. The recent full implementation of the Community Care Act, with its stress on the role of carers and networks, reinforces the need for mental health nurses to be aware of these issues. This selective review examines some of the ways in which social networks can be analysed, explores the relationship between social networks and social support, and considers the effects of social networks and social support on mental health. Research into the social networks of people with long-term mental ill-health is discussed, and implications for mental health nursing in all care settings are addressed.

Community Mental Health Services↗
PubMed1997

Major determinants of social networks in frail elderly community residents.

Although social networks has been extensively studied as independent, intervening, and moderating variables affecting health, little attention has been paid to social networks as dependent variables. The present research is a longitudinal study which focuses on social networks as the dependent variable. A sample of 3,559 poor, frail, elderly from California Multipurpose Senior Services Project (MSSP) were evaluated in six month intervals over an eighteen month period. The results indicate that life events, sex, ailments, mental functioning, and health habits are significant predictors of the elderly's social networks after six months, and that life events, sex, age, and health habits are significant predictors of the elderly's social networks after twelve months, as well as after eighteen months. Implications for intervention and for further research are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Visual analysis of large heterogeneous social networks by semantic and structural abstraction.

Social network analysis is an active area of study beyond sociology. It uncovers the invisible relationships between actors in a network and provides understanding of social processes and behaviors. It has become an important technique in a variety of application areas such as the Web, organizational studies, and homeland security. This paper presents a visual analytics tool, OntoVis, for understanding large, heterogeneous social networks, in which nodes and links could represent different concepts and relations, respectively. These concepts and relations are related through an ontology (also known as a schema). OntoVis is named such because it uses information in the ontology associated with a social network to semantically prune a large, heterogeneous network. In addition to semantic abstraction, OntoVis also allows users to do structural abstraction and importance filtering to make large networks manageable and to facilitate analytic reasoning. All these unique capabilities of OntoVis are illustrated with several case studies.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1999

The Finnmark study. Social support, social network and mental distress in a prospective population study.

BACKGROUND: Earlier studies on the direct effect of social support and social network upon mental health have mostly been done in cross-sectional studies and the results have been conflicting. METHODS: The direct effect of social network and social support upon mental distress was tested in population-based health surveys conducted in 1987, 1990 and 1993. The population consisted of all persons aged 40-62 years and a random sample of persons aged between 20 and 39 years living in five small municipalities in Finnmark, the northernmost county in Norway. The attendance rates were 77%, 74% and 70% for the three health surveys, respectively. All those who had attended the health surveys more than once and answered the key questions about mental distress, social support and social network were selected for analyses (966 persons who attended both the two first health surveys and 1425 persons attending both the two last surveys). A theoretical full cross-lagged panel model was used to search for the predictive effects of time 1 variables (mental distress, social network and social support) upon corresponding subsequent variables. RESULTS: Mental distress, social support and social network at time 1 strongly predicted the corresponding variable at the next time point. Emotional support at time 1 exerted a weak positive effect upon mental distress on the next time point, explaining approximately 1% of the variance. Neither the social network nor instrumental support at time 1 predicted degree of mental distress at the subsequent time point. CONCLUSION: We conclude that social network and social support have very little direct predictive effect upon mental distress 3 years later in this population.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The significance of social network in a geriatric assessment population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There has long been speculation that socially-involved individuals suffer less illness, overcome sickness more readily, and experience better health outcomes than more socially isolated persons. This study describes social network characteristics, and determines whether social network affects health outcomes in the geriatric population. METHODS: Data from 1270 consecutive patients seen in the outpatient Geriatric Assessment Clinic (GAC) of the University of Nebraska Medical Center between August 1988 and May 1999 were analyzed. Social network was measured by the Social Network Index (SNI). RESULTS: Younger age, higher income and higher education were related to a broader social network. A larger social network was generally associated with lower caregiver burden, higher functional status and better cognition. Men with the smallest social networks were found to be at significantly higher risk of death than women with larger social networks (HR 4). After adjusting for age (HR 1.04, CI 1.03-1.06), income (HR 1.00, CI 1-1), education (HR, NS), IADL (HR 0.97, CI 0.95-0.99), CIRS (HR 1.08, CI 1.05-1.10) and informal service use (HR, NS), the risk of death for subjects based on SNI is only significant in the comparison between SNI III and SNI I (HR 0.67, CI 0.50-0.91). CONCLUSIONS: SNI I males are at significantly increased risk of death compared with all other groups. The average number of years from initial visit to death for SNI I males is only 2.8 years. These results are consistent with the literature, which suggests men are more affected by social isolation and have decreased survival compared with females. The influence of SNI on mortality in this frail, elderly group appears to be diluted by the presence of functional disability and a high degree of comorbid illness.

Activities of Daily Living↗