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Rassaby M, Shakya HB, Fowler JH, Oveis C, Sieber WJ, Jain S, Stein MB, Taylor CT. Application of an egocentric social network approach to examine changes in social connections following treatment for anxiety and depression: A novel measurement tool for clinical trials research? Soc Sci Med 2024; 350:116914. [PMID: 38696938 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
The epidemic of loneliness and social isolation has been recognized as a public health crisis warranting the same prioritization as other public health issues today, such as obesity, substance use disorders, and tobacco use. Social disconnection is particularly prevalent and disabling among individuals with anxiety and depression, yet it is inadequately evaluated and addressed in most clinical psychology treatment research. Studies generally employ global measures of perceived connectedness, loneliness, or relationship satisfaction, limiting understanding about elements of one's social network that may change with treatment. This study examined changes in the degree (number of people nominated) and quality of one's social network from pre-to post-treatment using an egocentric social network approach in 59 adults (mean age = 30.8 years, range = 18 to 54) with clinically elevated anxiety or depression who were randomized to a cognitive and behavioral positive valence treatment versus waitlist. Participants (egos) named people in their lives (alters) with whom they discussed important issues or spent free time. For each alter, participants rated how close they felt, how close they thought the alter felt to them, and how frequently they communicated. Linear regressions, which included treatment group as a predictor, revealed no group differences in changes in network degree, perceived alter feelings of closeness, or communication frequency, despite prior findings from this sample indicating larger increases in perceived global connectedness in the treatment group. Unexpectedly, the control group reported a greater increase in perceived closeness to alters. Post-hoc analyses revealed this was explained by the treatment group identifying more distal social ties (e.g., extended family, colleagues, roommates) as alters following treatment - an outcome positively associated with global improvements in connectedness. This proof-of-concept study suggests egocentric social network surveys may provide unique information on treatment-related changes in social functioning. Suggestions are provided for adaptations to facilitate application of social network surveys to mental health treatment research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Rassaby
- San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States
| | | | | | | | | | - Sonia Jain
- University of California San Diego, United States
| | - Murray B Stein
- San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States; University of California San Diego, United States
| | - Charles T Taylor
- San Diego State University/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States; University of California San Diego, United States.
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2
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Taylor CT, Stein MB, Simmons AN, He F, Oveis C, Shakya HB, Sieber WJ, Fowler JH, Jain S. Amplification of Positivity Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: A Randomized Experimental Therapeutics Trial Targeting Social Reward Sensitivity to Enhance Social Connectedness. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 95:434-443. [PMID: 37607657 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social disconnection is common and causes significant impairment in anxiety and depressive disorders, and it does not respond sufficiently to available treatments. The positive valence system supports social bond formation and maintenance but is often hyporesponsive in people with anxiety or depression. We conducted an experimental therapeutics trial to test the hypothesis that targeting positive valence processes through cognitive and behavioral strategies would enhance responsivity to social rewards, a core mechanism underlying social connectedness. METHODS Sixty-eight adults who endorsed clinically elevated anxiety and/or depression with social impairment were randomized 1:1:1 to 5 (n = 23) or 10 (n = 22) sessions of amplification of positivity (AMP) treatment or waitlist (n = 23). Pre- to posttreatment change in striatal activity (primary outcome) during social reward anticipation was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and reactivity to a social affiliation task (secondary) and self-reported social connectedness (exploratory) were examined. Primary analyses compared AMP (doses combined) versus waitlist. A second aim was to compare the effects of different doses. RESULTS AMP engaged the hypothesized treatment target, leading to greater striatal activation during anticipation of social rewards versus waitlist (d = 1.01 [95% CI = 0.42-1.61]; largest striatal volume). AMP yielded larger improvements in positive affect and approach behavior during the affiliation task (but not other outcomes) and social connectedness. Larger striatal and social connectedness increases were observed for 5-session versus 10-session AMP (d range = 0.08-1.03). CONCLUSIONS Teaching people with anxiety or depression strategies to increase positive thoughts, behaviors, and emotions enhances activity in brain regions that govern social reward processing and promotes social connectedness. Social reward sensitivity may be a transdiagnostic target for remediating social disconnection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles T Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California.
| | - Murray B Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California; VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California
| | - Alan N Simmons
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California; VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California
| | - Feng He
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Christopher Oveis
- Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Holly B Shakya
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - William J Sieber
- Department of Family Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - James H Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
| | - Sonia Jain
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health & Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
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Abstract
Political ideology has been linked to beliefs regarding sexual harassment and assault (SH&A). Using data from the January 2018 Stop Street Sexual Harassment online poll (N = 2,009), this study examined associations of political identity and political ideology with self-reported experiences of being the victim of SH&A. SH&A experiences were coded into four mutually exclusive groups: none, non-physically aggressive harassment, physically aggressive harassment, or sexual assault. Sex-stratified logistic regression models assessed associations of interest, adjusting for participant demographics. Among women, more conservative political ideology was negatively associated with reports of sexual assault, odds ratio (OR) = 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.74, 0.98]. Among males, more conservative political ideology was negatively associated with reports of physically aggressive sexual harassment (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = [0.73, 0.98]), and greater Republican affiliation was negatively associated with reports of sexual assault (OR = 0.82, 95% CI = [0.68, 0.99]). Conservative and Republican women and men are thus less likely to report more severe forms of SH&A, which may explain differences in beliefs on these issues. Research is needed to determine if political differences are due to reporting biases or differential vulnerabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rupa Jose
- University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA
| | | | - Anita Raj
- University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA
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Witte C, Vaida F, Papendick R, Hungerford LL, Rideout BA, Fowler JH. Longitudinal social network analysis of avian mycobacteriosis incidence in a large population of zoo birds. Prev Vet Med 2021; 193:105415. [PMID: 34252815 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The goal of this study was to evaluate longitudinal patterns of avian mycobacteriosis spread through a social network. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether the patterns of connectivity over time can predict future infections, and whether this pattern can distinguish between different sources of infection. The study population included 13,409 individuals nested in a larger population of birds that were closely monitored in zoological facilities for over 22 years (1992-2014). A retrospective cohort study design and social network connectivity were used to estimate the association between exposure to an infected bird, and development of mycobacteriosis. Avian mycobacteriosis was diagnosed from histopathology and network connectivity was defined by enclosure histories over discrete time periods. Single-variable and multivariable longitudinal, mixed effects logistic regression models examined whether exposure to infected birds, both directly- and indirectly-connected, was associated with development of mycobacteriosis at the next time step. Our adjusted model showed an increased odds of developing mycobacteriosis (odds ratio = 2.15; 95 % CI: 1.48-3.12; p < 0.001) for birds that were directly exposed (i.e., housed in the same aviary) to another infected bird, compared to those with no exposure. Exposure to a positive, indirectly-connected bird at a previous time step was independently associated with an increased risk of mycobacteriosis (odds ratio = 1.56; 95 % CI: 1.11-2.19). This association persisted in adjusted models even when the indirect contacts were housed in distinctly different aviaries and never had contact with the subject of interest or its environment. Adjusted, risk-stratified models further characterized the type of exposure that increased the risk of avian mycobacteriosis. Birds that were exposed in small aviaries were more likely to develop mycobacteriosis than those exposed in larger aviaries and those with no exposure. The lesion distribution and species of the contact (same species versus different species) were also significant predictors of disease risk. Some findings were sensitive to model variation of time divisions and initiation time. Our study shows avian mycobacteriosis spread through the social network in quantifiable and discernable patterns. We provide empirical evidence that a contagious process drives some of the observed infection, but we also show low transmissibility based on sustained patterns of low incidence over time even when large groups of birds are exposed. Targeted risk mitigation efforts based on the characteristics of the exposure may be effective at reducing risk of avian mycobacteriosis while enhancing population sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmel Witte
- Conservation Science and Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd., Escondido, CA, 92027, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92023, USA; Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA, 92182, USA.
| | - Florin Vaida
- Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92023, USA.
| | - Rebecca Papendick
- Conservation Science and Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd., Escondido, CA, 92027, USA.
| | - Laura L Hungerford
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, 205 Duck Pond Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
| | - Bruce A Rideout
- Conservation Science and Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd., Escondido, CA, 92027, USA.
| | - James H Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92023, USA.
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Fowler JH, Hill SJ, Levin R, Obradovich N. Stay-at-home orders associate with subsequent decreases in COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0248849. [PMID: 34111123 PMCID: PMC8191916 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Governments issue “stay-at-home” orders to reduce the spread of contagious diseases, but the magnitude of such orders’ effectiveness remains uncertain. In the United States these orders were not coordinated at the national level during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which creates an opportunity to use spatial and temporal variation to measure the policies’ effect. Here, we combine data on the timing of stay-at-home orders with daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities at the county level during the first seven weeks of the outbreak in the United States. We estimate the association between stay-at-home orders and alterations in COVID-19 cases and fatalities using a difference-in-differences design that accounts for unmeasured local variation in factors like health systems and demographics and for unmeasured temporal variation in factors like national mitigation actions and access to tests. Compared to counties that did not implement stay-at-home orders, the results show that the orders are associated with a 30.2 percent (11.0 to 45.2) average reduction in weekly incident cases after one week, a 40.0 percent (23.4 to 53.0) reduction after two weeks, and a 48.6 percent (31.1 to 61.7) reduction after three weeks. Stay-at-home orders are also associated with a 59.8 percent (18.3 to 80.2) average reduction in weekly fatalities after three weeks. These results suggest that stay-at-home orders might have reduced confirmed cases by 390,000 (170,000 to 680,000) and fatalities by 41,000 (27,000 to 59,000) within the first three weeks in localities that implemented stay-at-home orders.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H. Fowler
- Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health Division, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
- Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (JHF); (NO)
| | - Seth J. Hill
- Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
| | - Remy Levin
- Economics Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States of America
| | - Nick Obradovich
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail: (JHF); (NO)
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Witte C, Fowler JH, Pfeiffer W, Hungerford LL, Braun J, Burchell J, Papendick R, Rideout BA. Social network analysis and whole-genome sequencing to evaluate disease transmission in a large, dynamic population: A study of avian mycobacteriosis in zoo birds. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0252152. [PMID: 34106953 PMCID: PMC8189513 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This study combined a social network analysis and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to test for general patterns of contagious spread of a mycobacterial infection for which pathways of disease acquisition are not well understood. Our population included 275 cases diagnosed with avian mycobacteriosis that were nested in a source population of 16,430 birds at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance facilities from 1992 through mid-2014. Mycobacteria species were determined using conventional methods and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Mycobacterium avium avium (MAA) and Mycobacterium genavense were the most common species of mycobacteria identified and were present in different proportions across bird taxa. A social network for the birds was constructed from the source population to identify directly and indirectly connected cases during time periods relevant to disease transmission. Associations between network connectivity and genetic similarity of mycobacteria (as determined by clusters of genotypes separated by few single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) were then evaluated in observed and randomly generated network permutations. Findings showed that some genotypes clustered along pathways of bird connectivity, while others were dispersed throughout the network. The proportion of directly connected birds having a similar mycobacterial genotype was 0.36 and significant (p<0.05). This proportion was higher (0.58) and significant for MAA but not for M. genavense. Evaluations of SNP distributions also showed genotypes of MAA were more related in connected birds than expected by chance; however, no significant patterns of genetic relatedness were identified for M. genavense, although data were sparse. Integrating the WGS analysis of mycobacteria with a social network analysis of their host birds revealed significant genetic clustering along pathways of connectivity, namely for MAA. These findings are consistent with a contagious process occurring in some, but not all, case clusters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmel Witte
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, California, United States of America
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - James H. Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Wayne Pfeiffer
- San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Laura L. Hungerford
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Josephine Braun
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Jennifer Burchell
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Rebecca Papendick
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Bruce A. Rideout
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, California, United States of America
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7
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Abstract
Governments issue "stay-at-home" orders to reduce the spread of contagious diseases, but the magnitude of such orders' effectiveness remains uncertain. In the United States these orders were not coordinated at the national level during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which creates an opportunity to use spatial and temporal variation to measure the policies' effect. Here, we combine data on the timing of stay-at-home orders with daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities at the county level during the first seven weeks of the outbreak in the United States. We estimate the association between stay-at-home orders and alterations in COVID-19 cases and fatalities using a difference-in-differences design that accounts for unmeasured local variation in factors like health systems and demographics and for unmeasured temporal variation in factors like national mitigation actions and access to tests. Compared to counties that did not implement stay-at-home orders, the results show that the orders are associated with a 30.2 percent (11.0 to 45.2) average reduction in weekly incident cases after one week, a 40.0 percent (23.4 to 53.0) reduction after two weeks, and a 48.6 percent (31.1 to 61.7) reduction after three weeks. Stay-at-home orders are also associated with a 59.8 percent (18.3 to 80.2) average reduction in weekly fatalities after three weeks. These results suggest that stay-at-home orders might have reduced confirmed cases by 390,000 (170,000 to 680,000) and fatalities by 41,000 (27,000 to 59,000) within the first three weeks in localities that implemented stay-at-home orders.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H Fowler
- Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health Division, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
- Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
| | - Seth J Hill
- Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
| | - Remy Levin
- Economics Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States of America
| | - Nick Obradovich
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
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8
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Witte C, Hungerford LL, Rideout BA, Papendick R, Fowler JH. Spatiotemporal network structure among "friends of friends" reveals contagious disease process. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0237168. [PMID: 32760155 PMCID: PMC7410232 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Disease transmission can be identified in a social network from the structural patterns of contact. However, it is difficult to separate contagious processes from those driven by homophily, and multiple pathways of transmission or inexact information on the timing of infection can obscure the detection of true transmission events. Here, we analyze the dynamic social network of a large, and near-complete population of 16,430 zoo birds tracked daily over 22 years to test a novel “friends-of-friends” strategy for detecting contagion in a social network. The results show that cases of avian mycobacteriosis were significantly clustered among pairs of birds that had been in direct contact. However, since these clusters might result due to correlated traits or a shared environment, we also analyzed pairs of birds that had never been in direct contact but were indirectly connected in the network via other birds. The disease was also significantly clustered among these friends of friends and a reverse-time placebo test shows that homophily could not be causing the clustering. These results provide empirical evidence that at least some avian mycobacteriosis infections are transmitted between birds, and provide new methods for detecting contagious processes in large-scale global network structures with indirect contacts, even when transmission pathways, timing of cases, or etiologic agents are unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmel Witte
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California, United States of America
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Laura L. Hungerford
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Bruce A. Rideout
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Rebecca Papendick
- Disease Investigations, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - James H. Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Division of Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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9
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Bavel JJV, Baicker K, Boggio PS, Capraro V, Cichocka A, Cikara M, Crockett MJ, Crum AJ, Douglas KM, Druckman JN, Drury J, Dube O, Ellemers N, Finkel EJ, Fowler JH, Gelfand M, Han S, Haslam SA, Jetten J, Kitayama S, Mobbs D, Napper LE, Packer DJ, Pennycook G, Peters E, Petty RE, Rand DG, Reicher SD, Schnall S, Shariff A, Skitka LJ, Smith SS, Sunstein CR, Tabri N, Tucker JA, Linden SVD, Lange PV, Weeden KA, Wohl MJA, Zaki J, Zion SR, Willer R. Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nat Hum Behav 2020. [PMID: 32355299 DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/y38m9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behaviour with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay J Van Bavel
- Department of Psychology & Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Katherine Baicker
- University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Paulo S Boggio
- Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Center for Health and Biological Sciences, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Valerio Capraro
- Department of Economics, Middlesex University London, London, UK
| | - Aleksandra Cichocka
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Kent, UK
- Department of Psychology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland
| | - Mina Cikara
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Alia J Crum
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - James N Druckman
- Department of Political Science, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - John Drury
- Department of Social Psychology, University of Sussex, Sussex, UK
| | - Oeindrila Dube
- University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Naomi Ellemers
- Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Eli J Finkel
- Department of Psychology and the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health and Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Michele Gelfand
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Shihui Han
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | | | - Jolanda Jetten
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Shinobu Kitayama
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Dean Mobbs
- Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Lucy E Napper
- Department of Psychology and Health, Medicine & Society Program, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
| | | | - Gordon Pennycook
- Hill/Levene Schools of Business, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - Ellen Peters
- School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Richard E Petty
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - David G Rand
- Sloan School and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stephen D Reicher
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Simone Schnall
- Department of Psychology University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Azim Shariff
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Linda J Skitka
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sandra Susan Smith
- Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Cass R Sunstein
- Harvard Law School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Nassim Tabri
- Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Joshua A Tucker
- Department of Politics, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Paul van Lange
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Kim A Weeden
- Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Michael J A Wohl
- Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jamil Zaki
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Sean R Zion
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Robb Willer
- Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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10
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Nishi A, Alexander M, Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Assortative mating at loci under recent natural selection in humans. Biosystems 2019; 187:104040. [PMID: 31585150 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2019.104040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2019] [Revised: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Genetic correlation between mates at specific loci can greatly alter the evolutionary trajectory of a species. Genetic assortative mating has been documented in humans, but its existence beyond population stratification (shared ancestry) has been a matter of controversy. Here, we develop a method to measure assortative mating across the genome at 1,044,854 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), controlling for population stratification and cohort-specific cryptic relatedness. Using data on 1683 human couples from two data sources, we find evidence for both assortative and disassortative mating at specific, discernible loci throughout the entire genome. Then, using the composite of multiple signals (CMS) score, we also show that the group of SNPs exhibiting the most assortativity has been under stronger recent positive selection. Simulations using realistic inputs confirm that assortative mating might indeed affect changes in allele frequency over time. These results suggest that genetic assortative mating may be speeding up evolution in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akihiro Nishi
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
| | - Marcus Alexander
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, CT 06520, USA.
| | - James H Fowler
- Division of Medical Genetics and Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92103, USA.
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, CT 06520, USA; Department of Sociology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, and Statistics & Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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11
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Isakov A, Fowler JH, Airoldi EM, Christakis NA. The Structure of Negative Social Ties in Rural Village Networks. Sociol Sci 2019; 6:197-218. [PMID: 32704522 PMCID: PMC7340493 DOI: 10.15195/v6.a8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Negative (antagonistic) connections have been of longstanding theoretical importance for social structure. In a population of 24,696 adults interacting face to face within 176 isolated villages in western Honduras, we measured all connections that were present, amounting to 105,175 positive and 16,448 negative ties. Here, we show that negative and positive ties exhibit many of the same structural characteristics. We then develop a complete taxonomy of all 138 possible triads of two-type relationships. Consistent with balance theory, we find that antagonists of friends and friends of antagonists tend to be antagonists; but, in an important empirical refutation of balance theory, we find that antagonists of antagonists also tend to be antagonists, not friends. Finally, villages with comparable levels of animosity tend to be geographically proximate. Similar processes, involving social contact, give rise to both positive and negative social ties in rural villages, and negative ties play an important role in social structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Isakov
- Alexander Isakov Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University; Department of Sociology, Yale University. E-mail:
| | - James H Fowler
- James H. Fowler Department of Medicine, University of California, Sand Diego; Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego. E-mail:
| | - Edoardo M Airoldi
- Edoardo M. Airoldi Department of Statistical Science, Fox School of Business, Temple University; Department of Statistics and Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences, Harvard University. E-mail:
- Nicholas A. Christakis Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University; Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University. E-mail:
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Alexander Isakov Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University; Department of Sociology, Yale University. E-mail:
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12
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Baylis P, Obradovich N, Kryvasheyeu Y, Chen H, Coviello L, Moro E, Cebrian M, Fowler JH. Weather impacts expressed sentiment. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0195750. [PMID: 29694424 PMCID: PMC5918636 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
We conduct the largest ever investigation into the relationship between meteorological conditions and the sentiment of human expressions. To do this, we employ over three and a half billion social media posts from tens of millions of individuals from both Facebook and Twitter between 2009 and 2016. We find that cold temperatures, hot temperatures, precipitation, narrower daily temperature ranges, humidity, and cloud cover are all associated with worsened expressions of sentiment, even when excluding weather-related posts. We compare the magnitude of our estimates with the effect sizes associated with notable historical events occurring within our data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Baylis
- Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Nick Obradovich
- Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Yury Kryvasheyeu
- Data61, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Melbourne, Australia
| | - Haohui Chen
- Data61, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Melbourne, Australia
| | - Lorenzo Coviello
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Esteban Moro
- Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- Department of Mathematics and GISC, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganes, Spain
| | - Manuel Cebrian
- Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - James H. Fowler
- Departments of Political Science and Medicine, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States of America
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13
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Kim DA, Benjamin EJ, Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Social connectedness is associated with fibrinogen level in a human social network. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2016.0958. [PMID: 27559060 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Socially isolated individuals face elevated rates of illness and death. Conventional measures of social connectedness reflect an individual's perceived network and can be subject to bias and variation in reporting. In this study of a large human social network, we find that greater indegree, a sociocentric measure of friendship and familial ties identified by a subject's social connections rather than by the subject, predicts significantly lower concentrations of fibrinogen (a biomarker of inflammation and cardiac risk), after adjusting for demographics, education, medical history and known predictors of cardiac risk. The association between fibrinogen and social isolation, as measured by low indegree, is comparable to the effect of smoking, and greater than that of low education, a conventional measure of socioeconomic disadvantage. By contrast, outdegree, which reflects an individual's perceived connectedness, displays a significantly weaker association with fibrinogen concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Kim
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, 300 Pasteur Drive MC 5119, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Emelia J Benjamin
- The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute & Boston University's Framingham Heart Study, 73 Mount Wayte Avenue, Framingham, MA 01702, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Departments of Medicine and Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0521, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Departments of Medicine, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Sociology, Yale University, PO Box 208263, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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14
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Van Cise AM, Martien KK, Mahaffy SD, Baird RW, Webster DL, Fowler JH, Oleson EM, Morin PA. Familial social structure and socially driven genetic differentiation in Hawaiian short‐finned pilot whales. Mol Ecol 2017; 26:6730-6741. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.14397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 08/23/2017] [Accepted: 10/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Karen. K. Martien
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA La Jolla CA USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Erin M. Oleson
- Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA Honolulu HI USA
| | - Phillip A. Morin
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla CA USA
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA La Jolla CA USA
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15
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Radin JM, Shaffer RA, Lindsay SP, Araneta MRG, Raman R, Fowler JH. International chicken trade and increased risk for introducing or reintroducing highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) to uninfected countries. Infect Dis Model 2017; 2:412-418. [PMID: 30137719 PMCID: PMC6001958 DOI: 10.1016/j.idm.2017.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Revised: 08/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Every year billions of chickens are shipped thousands of miles around the globe in order to meet the ever increasing demands for this cheap and nutritious protein source. Unfortunately, transporting chickens internationally can also increase the chance for introducing zoonotic viruses, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) to new countries. Our study used a retrospective analysis of poultry trading data from 2003 through 2011 to assess the risk of H5N1 poultry infection in an importing country. We found that the risk of infection in an importing country increased by a factor of 1.3 (95% CI: 1.1-1.5) for every 10-fold increase in live chickens imported from countries experiencing at least one H5N1 poultry case during that year. These results suggest that the risk in a particular country can be significantly reduced if imports from countries experiencing an outbreak are decreased during the year of infection or if biosecurity measures such as screening, vaccination, and infection control practices are increased. These findings show that limiting trade of live chickens or increasing infection control practices during contagious periods may be an important step in reducing the spread of H5N1 and other emerging avian influenza viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M Radin
- Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health (Epidemiology), San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Richard A Shaffer
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - Suzanne P Lindsay
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - Maria Rosario G Araneta
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Rema Raman
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.,Department of Political Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.,Division of Medical Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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16
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Obradovich N, Migliorini R, Mednick SC, Fowler JH. Nighttime temperature and human sleep loss in a changing climate. Sci Adv 2017; 3:e1601555. [PMID: 28560320 PMCID: PMC5446217 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2017] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Human sleep is highly regulated by temperature. Might climate change-through increases in nighttime heat-disrupt sleep in the future? We conduct the inaugural investigation of the relationship between climatic anomalies, reports of insufficient sleep, and projected climate change. Using data from 765,000 U.S. survey respondents from 2002 to 2011, coupled with nighttime temperature data, we show that increases in nighttime temperatures amplify self-reported nights of insufficient sleep. We observe the largest effects during the summer and among both lower-income and elderly respondents. We combine our historical estimates with climate model projections and detail the potential sleep impacts of future climatic changes. Our study represents the largest ever investigation of the relationship between sleep and ambient temperature and provides the first evidence that climate change may disrupt human sleep.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Obradovich
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Corresponding author. ,
| | - Robyn Migliorini
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - Sara C. Mednick
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - James H. Fowler
- Departments of Political Science and Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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17
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Jones JJ, Bond RM, Bakshy E, Eckles D, Fowler JH. Social influence and political mobilization: Further evidence from a randomized experiment in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173851. [PMID: 28445476 PMCID: PMC5405916 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A large-scale experiment during the 2010 U.S. Congressional Election demonstrated a positive effect of an online get-out-the-vote message on real world voting behavior. Here, we report results from a replication of the experiment conducted during the U.S. Presidential Election in 2012. In spite of the fact that get-out-the-vote messages typically yield smaller effects during high-stakes elections due to saturation of mobilization efforts from many sources, a significant increase in voting was again observed. Voting also increased significantly among the close friends of those who received the message to go to the polls, and the total effect on the friends was likely larger than the direct effect, suggesting that understanding social influence effects is potentially even more important than understanding the direct effects of messaging. These results replicate earlier work and they add to growing evidence that online social networks can be instrumental for spreading offline behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J. Jones
- Department of Sociology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
- Institute for Advanced Computational Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Robert M. Bond
- School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Eytan Bakshy
- Facebook, Menlo Park, California, United States of America
| | - Dean Eckles
- Facebook, Menlo Park, California, United States of America
| | - James H. Fowler
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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18
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Shakya HB, Stafford D, Hughes DA, Keegan T, Negron R, Broome J, McKnight M, Nicoll L, Nelson J, Iriarte E, Ordonez M, Airoldi E, Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Exploiting social influence to magnify population-level behaviour change in maternal and child health: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of network targeting algorithms in rural Honduras. BMJ Open 2017; 7:e012996. [PMID: 28289044 PMCID: PMC5353315 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Despite global progress on many measures of child health, rates of neonatal mortality remain high in the developing world. Evidence suggests that substantial improvements can be achieved with simple, low-cost interventions within family and community settings, particularly those designed to change knowledge and behaviour at the community level. Using social network analysis to identify structurally influential community members and then targeting them for intervention shows promise for the implementation of sustainable community-wide behaviour change. METHODS AND ANALYSIS We will use a detailed understanding of social network structure and function to identify novel ways of targeting influential individuals to foster cascades of behavioural change at a population level. Our work will involve experimental and observational analyses. We will map face-to-face social networks of 30 000 people in 176 villages in Western Honduras, and then conduct a randomised controlled trial of a friendship-based network-targeting algorithm with a set of well-established care interventions. We will also test whether the proportion of the population targeted affects the degree to which the intervention spreads throughout the network. We will test scalable methods of network targeting that would not, in the future, require the actual mapping of social networks but would still offer the prospect of rapidly identifying influential targets for public health interventions. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The Yale IRB and the Honduran Ministry of Health approved all data collection procedures (Protocol number 1506016012) and all participants will provide informed consent before enrolment. We will publish our findings in peer-reviewed journals as well as engage non-governmental organisations and other actors through venues for exchanging practical methods for behavioural health interventions, such as global health conferences. We will also develop a 'toolkit' for practitioners to use in network-based intervention efforts, including public release of our network mapping software. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT02694679; Pre-results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly B Shakya
- Division of Global Public Health, School of Medicine, Center on Gender Equity and Health, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | | | - D Alex Hughes
- Department of Sociology, Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Thomas Keegan
- School of Information, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Rennie Negron
- Department of Sociology, Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Jai Broome
- Department of Sociology, Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Mark McKnight
- Department of Sociology, Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Liza Nicoll
- Department of Sociology, Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Jennifer Nelson
- Salud Mesoamerica Initiative, Inter-American Development, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Emma Iriarte
- Salud Mesoamerica Initiative, Inter-American Development, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | | | - Edo Airoldi
- Department of Statistics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Division of Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Department of Sociology, Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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19
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Abstract
Numerous models explore how a wide variety of biological and social phenomena spread in social networks. However, these models implicitly assume that the spread of one phenomenon is not affected by the spread of another. Here, we develop a model of “dueling contagions”, with a particular illustration of a situation where one is biological (influenza) and the other is social (flu vaccination). We apply the model to unique time series data collected during the 2009 H1N1 epidemic that includes information about vaccination, flu, and face-to-face social networks. The results show that well-connected individuals are more likely to get vaccinated, as are people who are exposed to friends who get vaccinated or are exposed to friends who get the flu. Our dueling contagion model suggests that other epidemiological models may be dramatically underestimating the R0 of contagions. It also suggests that the rate of vaccination contagion may be even more important than the biological contagion in determining the course of the disease. These results suggest that real world and online platforms that make it easier to see when friends have been vaccinated (personalized vaccination campaigns) and when they get the flu (personalized flu warnings) could have a large impact on reducing the severity of epidemics. They also suggest possible benefits from understanding the coevolution of many kinds of dueling contagions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Fu
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.,Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Department of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.,Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.,Yale Institute of Network Science, Yale University, PO Box 208263, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Division of Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.,Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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20
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Merchant G, Weibel N, Pina L, Griswold WG, Fowler JH, Ayala GX, Gallo LC, Hollan J, Patrick K. Face-to-Face and Online Networks: College Students' Experiences in a Weight-Loss Trial. J Health Commun 2017; 22:75-83. [PMID: 28060581 PMCID: PMC6534122 DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2016.1250847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to understand how college students participating in a 2-year randomized controlled trial (Project SMART: Social and Mobile Approach to Reduce Weight; N = 404) engaged their social networks and used social and mobile technologies to try and lose weight. Participants in the present study (n = 20 treatment, n = 18 control) were approached after a measurement visit and administered semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analyzed using principles from grounded theory. Treatment group participants appreciated the timely support provided by the study and the integration of content across multiple technologies. Participants in both groups reported using non-study-designed apps to help them lose weight, and many participants knew one another outside of the study. Individuals talked about weight-loss goals with their friends face to face and felt accountable to follow through with their intentions. Although seeing others' success online motivated many, there was a range of perceived acceptability in talking about personal health-related information on social media. The findings from this qualitative study can inform intervention trials using social and mobile technologies to promote weight loss. For example, weight-loss trials should measure participants' use of direct-to-consumer technologies and interconnectivity so that treatment effects can be isolated and cross-contamination accounted for.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gina Merchant
- a Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Qualcomm Institute/Calit 2 , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
- b Department of Biomedical Informatics , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
| | - Nadir Weibel
- a Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Qualcomm Institute/Calit 2 , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
- c Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
| | - Laura Pina
- a Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Qualcomm Institute/Calit 2 , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
- c Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
| | - William G Griswold
- a Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Qualcomm Institute/Calit 2 , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
- c Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
| | - James H Fowler
- a Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Qualcomm Institute/Calit 2 , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
- d Department of Medicine , School of Medicine, University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
| | - Guadalupe X Ayala
- e Division of Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health , San Diego State University , San Diego , California , USA
| | - Linda C Gallo
- f San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology , San Diego , California , USA
| | - James Hollan
- g Department of Cognitive Science , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
| | - Kevin Patrick
- a Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Qualcomm Institute/Calit 2 , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California , USA
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21
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Abstract
Since the 1970s sociologists have explored the best means for measuring social networks, although few name generator analyses have used sociocentric data or data from developing countries, partly because sociocentric studies in developing countries have been scant. Here, we analyze 12 different name generators used in a sociocentric network study conducted in 75 villages in rural Karnataka, India. Having unusual sociocentric data from a non-Western context allowed us to extend previous name generator research through the unique analyses of network structural measures, an extensive consideration of homophily, and investigation of status difference between egos and alters. We found that domestic interaction questions generated networks that were highly clustered and highly centralized. Similarity between respondents and their nominated contacts was strongest for gender, caste, and religion. We also found that domestic interaction name generators yielded the most homogeneous ties, while advice questions yielded the most heterogeneous. Participants were generally more likely to nominate those of higher social status, although certain questions, such as who participants talk to uncovered more egalitarian relationships, while other name generators elicited the names of social contacts distinctly higher or lower in status than the respondent. Some questions also seemed to uncover networks that were specific to the cultural context, suggesting that network researchers should balance local relevance with global generalizability when choosing name generators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly B. Shakya
- School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
- Yale Institute for Network Science, PO Box 208263, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
| | | | - James H. Fowler
- School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
- Political Science Department, University of California San Diego, SSB 301, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
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22
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Godino JG, Merchant G, Norman GJ, Donohue MC, Marshall SJ, Fowler JH, Calfas KJ, Huang JS, Rock CL, Griswold WG, Gupta A, Raab F, Fogg BJ, Robinson TN, Patrick K. Using social and mobile tools for weight loss in overweight and obese young adults (Project SMART): a 2 year, parallel-group, randomised, controlled trial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2016; 4:747-755. [PMID: 27426247 PMCID: PMC5005009 DOI: 10.1016/s2213-8587(16)30105-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2016] [Revised: 05/21/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Few weight loss interventions are evaluated for longer than a year, and even fewer employ social and mobile technologies commonly used among young adults. We assessed the efficacy of a 2 year, theory-based, weight loss intervention that was remotely and adaptively delivered via integrated user experiences with Facebook, mobile apps, text messaging, emails, a website, and technology-mediated communication with a health coach (the SMART intervention). METHODS In this parallel-group, randomised, controlled trial, we enrolled overweight or obese college students (aged 18-35 years) from three universities in San Diego, CA, USA. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either the intervention (SMART intervention group) or general information about health and wellness (control group). We used computer-based permuted-block randomisation with block sizes of four, stratified by sex, ethnicity, and college. Participants, study staff, and investigators were masked until the intervention was assigned. The primary outcome was objectively measured weight in kg at 24 months. Differences between groups were evaluated using linear mixed-effects regression within an intention-to-treat framework. Objectively measured weight at 6, 12, and 18 months was included as a secondary outcome. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01200459. FINDINGS Between May 18, 2011, and May 17, 2012, 404 individuals were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=202) or control (n=202). Participants' mean (SD) age was 22·7 (3·8) years. 284 (70%) participants were female and 125 (31%) were Hispanic. Mean (SD) body-mass index at baseline was 29·0 (2·8) kg/m(2). At 24 months, weight was assessed in 341 (84%) participants, but all 404 were included in analyses. Weight, adjusted for sex, ethnicity, and college, was not significantly different between the groups at 24 months (-0·79 kg [95% CI -2·02 to 0·43], p=0·204). However, weight was significantly less in the intervention group compared with the control group at 6 months (-1·33 kg [95% CI -2·36 to -0·30], p=0·011) and 12 months (-1·33 kg [-2·30 to -0·35], p=0·008), but not 18 months (-0·67 kg [95% CI -1·69 to 0·35], p=0·200). One serious adverse event in the intervention group (gallstones) could be attributable to rapid and excessive weight loss. INTERPRETATION Social and mobile technologies did not facilitate sustained reductions in weight among young adults, although these approaches might facilitate limited short-term weight loss. FUNDING The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (U01 HL096715).
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Affiliation(s)
- Job G Godino
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Gina Merchant
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Gregory J Norman
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Michael C Donohue
- Department of Neurology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Simon J Marshall
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Division of Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Karen J Calfas
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jeannie S Huang
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Cheryl L Rock
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - William G Griswold
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anjali Gupta
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Development, Aging, and Regeneration, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Fredric Raab
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - B J Fogg
- Behavior Design Laboratory, Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Thomas N Robinson
- Stanford Solutions Science Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Kevin Patrick
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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Shakya HB, Hughes DA, Stafford D, Christakis NA, Fowler JH, Silverman JG. Intimate partner violence norms cluster within households: an observational social network study in rural Honduras. BMC Public Health 2016; 16:233. [PMID: 26951919 PMCID: PMC4782313 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-2893-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2015] [Accepted: 02/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex global problem, not only because it is a human rights issue, but also because it is associated with chronic mental and physical illnesses as well as acute health outcomes related to injuries for women and their children. Attitudes, beliefs, and norms regarding IPV are significantly associated with the likelihood of both IPV experience and perpetration. Methods We investigated whether IPV acceptance is correlated across socially connected individuals, whether these correlations differ across types of relationships, and whether social position is associated with the likelihood of accepting IPV. We used sociocentric network data from 831 individuals in rural Honduras to assess the association of IPV acceptance between socially connected individuals across 15 different types of relationships, both within and between households. We also investigated the association between network position and IPV acceptance. Results We found that having a social contact that accepts IPV is strongly associated with IPV acceptance among individuals. For women the clustering of IPV acceptance was not significant in between-household relationships, but was concentrated within households. For men, however, while IPV acceptance was strongly clustered within households, men’s acceptance of IPV was also correlated with people with whom they regularly converse, their mothers and their siblings, regardless of household. We also found that IPV was more likely to be accepted by less socially-central individuals, and that the correlation between a social contact’s IPV acceptance was stronger on the periphery, suggesting that, as a norm, it is held on the periphery of the community. Conclusion Our results show that differential targeting of individuals and relationships in order to reduce the acceptability and, subsequently, the prevalence of IPV may be most effective. Because IPV norms seem to be strongly held within households, the household is probably the most logical unit to target in order to implement change. This approach would include the possible benefit of a generational effect. Finally, in social contexts in which perpetration of IPV is not socially acceptable, the most effective strategy may be to implement change not at the center but at the periphery of the community. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2893-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly B Shakya
- Department of Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0507, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0507, USA.
| | - D Alex Hughes
- Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Derek Stafford
- Department of Political Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | | | - James H Fowler
- Department of Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0507, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0507, USA. .,Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Jay G Silverman
- Department of Global Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0507, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0507, USA.
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Shakya HB, Christakis NA, Fowler JH. Self-comparisons as motivators for healthy behavior. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2015; 23:2477-84. [PMID: 26465785 DOI: 10.1002/oby.21201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2015] [Revised: 05/06/2015] [Accepted: 06/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We explored whether individuals' comparison of themselves to their social contacts, specifically feeling fitter or thinner than friends, is a significant predictor of three weight-loss behaviors (dieting, reducing alcohol, exercising). METHODS We used a longitudinal survey of a national sample of Americans (N = 20,373) to measure respondents' personal social networks and their self-comparisons to their social contacts at two annual waves. RESULTS Participants who felt thinner than friends in Wave 1 had 1.16 lower odds of dieting in Wave 2. Those who felt fitter than friends in Wave 1 had 1.10 times higher odds of reducing alcohol and 1.18 times higher odds of exercising in Wave 2. We found that 20% of the relationship between feeling thin at baseline and subsequent dieting may be because feeling heavier than friends makes one want to lose weight. This same dynamic accounts for 25% of the relationship between feeling fit and dieting and 12% of the relationship between feeling thin and reducing alcohol. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that normative self-comparison with important others is a potentially salient determinant of obesity-related health behavior and appears to work differently depending upon the behavior. Interventions may benefit from exploiting social comparisons in targeted ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly B Shakya
- Family Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | | | - James H Fowler
- Family Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
- Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
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Kim DA, Hwong AR, Stafford D, Hughes DA, O'Malley AJ, Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Social network targeting to maximise population behaviour change: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2015; 386:145-53. [PMID: 25952354 PMCID: PMC4638320 DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6736(15)60095-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Information and behaviour can spread through interpersonal ties. By targeting influential individuals, health interventions that harness the distributive properties of social networks could be made more effective and efficient than those that do not. Our aim was to assess which targeting methods produce the greatest cascades or spillover effects and hence maximise population-level behaviour change. METHODS In this cluster randomised trial, participants were recruited from villages of the Department of Lempira, Honduras. We blocked villages on the basis of network size, socioeconomic status, and baseline rates of water purification, for delivery of two public health interventions: chlorine for water purification and multivitamins for micronutrient deficiencies. We then randomised villages, separately for each intervention, to one of three targeting methods, introducing the interventions to 5% samples composed of either: randomly selected villagers (n=9 villages for each intervention); villagers with the most social ties (n=9); or nominated friends of random villagers (n=9; the last strategy exploiting the so-called friendship paradox of social networks). Participants and data collectors were not aware of the targeting methods. Primary endpoints were the proportions of available products redeemed by the entire population under each targeting method. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01672580. FINDINGS Between Aug 4, and Aug 14, 2012, 32 villages in rural Honduras (25-541 participants each; total study population of 5773) received public health interventions. For each intervention, nine villages (each with 1-20 initial target individuals) were randomised, using a blocked design, to each of the three targeting methods. In nomination-targeted villages, 951 (74·3%) of 1280 available multivitamin tickets were redeemed compared with 940 (66·2%) of 1420 in randomly targeted villages and 744 (61·0%) of 1220 in indegree-targeted villages. All pairwise differences in redemption rates were significant (p<0·01) after correction for multiple comparisons. Targeting nominated friends increased adoption of the nutritional intervention by 12·2% compared with random targeting (95% CI 6·9-17·9). Targeting the most highly connected individuals, by contrast, produced no greater adoption of either intervention, compared with random targeting. INTERPRETATION Introduction of a health intervention to the nominated friends of random individuals can enhance that intervention's diffusion by exploiting intrinsic properties of human social networks. This method has the additional advantage of scalability because it can be implemented without mapping the network. Deployment of certain types of health interventions via network targeting, without increasing the number of individuals targeted or the resources used, could enhance the adoption and efficiency of those interventions, thereby improving population health. FUNDING National Institutes of Health, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Star Family Foundation, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Kim
- Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Alison R Hwong
- Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Derek Stafford
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - D Alex Hughes
- Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - A James O'Malley
- Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - James H Fowler
- Departments of Political Science and Medical Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Departments of Medicine, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Biomedical Engineering, and Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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Abstract
One of the best-known and most replicated laboratory results in behavioral economics is that bargainers frequently reject low offers, even when it harms their material self-interest. This finding could have important implications for international negotiations on many problems facing humanity today, because models of international bargaining assume exactly the opposite: that policy makers are rational and self-interested. However, it is unknown whether elites who engage in diplomatic bargaining will similarly reject low offers because past research has been based almost exclusively on convenience samples of undergraduates, members of the general public, or small-scale societies rather than highly experienced elites who design and bargain over policy. Using a unique sample of 102 policy and business elites who have an average of 21 y of practical experience conducting international diplomacy or policy strategy, we show that, compared with undergraduates and the general public, elites are actually more likely to reject low offers when playing a standard "ultimatum game" that assesses how players bargain over a fixed resource. Elites with more experience tend to make even higher demands, suggesting that this tendency only increases as policy makers advance to leadership positions. This result contradicts assumptions of rational self-interested behavior that are standard in models of international bargaining, and it suggests that the adoption of global agreements on international trade, climate change, and other important problems will not depend solely on the interests of individual countries, but also on whether these accords are seen as equitable to all member states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brad L LeVeck
- Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, Department of Political Science, University of California, Merced, CA 95343
| | - D Alex Hughes
- Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, Department of Political Science, and
| | - James H Fowler
- Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, Department of Political Science, and Division of Medical Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; and
| | - Emilie Hafner-Burton
- Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, Department of Political Science, and
| | - David G Victor
- Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies,
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Merchant G, Weibel N, Patrick K, Fowler JH, Norman GJ, Gupta A, Servetas C, Calfas K, Raste K, Pina L, Donohue M, Griswold WG, Marshall S. Click "like" to change your behavior: a mixed methods study of college students' exposure to and engagement with Facebook content designed for weight loss. J Med Internet Res 2014; 16:e158. [PMID: 24964294 PMCID: PMC4090380 DOI: 10.2196/jmir.3267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2014] [Revised: 03/29/2014] [Accepted: 04/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Overweight or obesity is prevalent among college students and many gain weight during this time. Traditional face-to-face weight loss interventions have not worked well in this population. Facebook is an attractive tool for delivering weight loss interventions for college students because of its popularity, potential to deliver strategies found in successful weight loss interventions, and ability to support ongoing adaptation of intervention content. Objective The objective of this study was to describe participant exposure to a Facebook page designed to deliver content to overweight/obese college students in a weight loss randomized controlled trial (N=404) and examine participant engagement with behavior change campaigns for weight loss delivered via Facebook. Methods The basis of the intervention campaign model were 5 self-regulatory techniques: intention formation, action planning, feedback, goal review, and self-monitoring. Participants were encouraged to engage their existing social network to meet their weight loss goals. A health coach moderated the page and modified content based on usage patterns and user feedback. Quantitative analyses were conducted at the Facebook post- and participant-level of analysis. Participant engagement was quantified by Facebook post type (eg, status update) and interaction (eg, like) and stratified by weight loss campaign (sequenced vs nonsequenced). A subset of participants were interviewed to evaluate the presence of passive online engagement or “lurking.” Results The health coach posted 1816 unique messages to the study’s Facebook page over 21 months, averaging 3.45 posts per day (SD 1.96, range 1-13). In all, 72.96% (1325/1816) of the posts were interacted with at least once (eg, liked). Of these, approximately 24.75% (328/1325) had 1-2 interactions, 23.39% (310/1325) had 3-5 interactions, 25.13% (333/1325) had 6-8 interactions, and 41 posts had 20 or more interactions (3.09%, 41/1325). There was significant variability among quantifiable (ie, visible) engagement. Of 199 participants in the final intervention sample, 32 (16.1%) were highly active users and 62 (31.2%) never visibly engaged with the intervention on Facebook. Polls were the most popular type of post followed by photos, with 97.5% (79/81) and 80.3% (386/481) interacted with at least once. Participants visibly engaged less with posts over time (partial r=–.33; P<.001). Approximately 40% of the participants interviewed (12/29, 41%) reported passively engaging with the Facebook posts by reading but not visibly interacting with them. Conclusions Facebook can be used to remotely deliver weight loss intervention content to college students with the help of a health coach who can iteratively tailor content and interact with participants. However, visible engagement with the study’s Facebook page was highly variable and declined over time. Whether the level of observed engagement is meaningful in terms of influencing changes in weight behaviors and outcomes will be evaluated at the completion of the overall study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gina Merchant
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, The Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.
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Davila EP, Kolodziejczyk JK, Norman GJ, Calfas K, Huang JS, Rock CL, Griswold W, Fowler JH, Marshall SJ, Gupta A, Patrick K. Relationships between depression, gender, and unhealthy weight loss practices among overweight or obese college students. Eat Behav 2014; 15:271-4. [PMID: 24854817 DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2013] [Revised: 01/10/2014] [Accepted: 03/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Unhealthy weight loss practices are common among female college students. It is unknown if these practices are also most common among women in the subset of overweight or obese college students or if these practices are related to depression. We examined the relationship between gender, depression, and unhealthy weight loss practices among overweight or obese college students. METHODS Students (body mass index between 25.0 and 34.9 kg/m(2)) from three Southern California universities (M(age) = 22 years, SD = 4; 70% women) were recruited from May 2011 to May 2012 for participation in a weight loss clinical trial (N = 404). Logistic regressions were performed with baseline data to assess the cross-sectional relationship between self-reported unhealthy weight loss practices and gender and depression as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression short form. RESULTS Twenty-nine percent of participants reported engaging in at least one unhealthy weight loss behavior (e.g., fasting, purging) over the last 30 days, with no differences by gender. Self-report of at least one unhealthy weight loss behavior was associated with report of symptoms of depression (e(B) = 1.14 [confidence interval, CI: 1.08-1.20]), adjusting for potential confounders. Interactions between gender and depression were not significant (e(B) = 1.04 [CI: 0.93-1.16]). CONCLUSION Among an overweight or obese sample of college students, unhealthy weight loss practices were equally common in both genders, and students with depressive symptomatology were at greatest risk. Obesity interventions targeting overweight or obese college students should educate both men and women about the dangers of unhealthy weight loss practices. In addition, screening for depression can help identify students who would benefit from additional supportive and coping strategies and resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- E P Davila
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| | - J K Kolodziejczyk
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, Hardy Tower 119, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - G J Norman
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - K Calfas
- Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - J S Huang
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Rady Children's Hospital, 3020 Children's Way, San Diego, CA 92123, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 3020 Children's Way, MC 5109, La Jolla , CA 92093, USA
| | - C L Rock
- Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - W Griswold
- Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0404, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - J H Fowler
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Medical Genetics Division & Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0521, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - S J Marshall
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - A Gupta
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - K Patrick
- Center for Wireless & Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Atkinson Hall, Dept 0811, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept 0628, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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Shakya HB, Christakis NA, Fowler JH. Association between social network communities and health behavior: an observational sociocentric network study of latrine ownership in rural India. Am J Public Health 2014; 104:930-7. [PMID: 24625175 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2013.301811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We identified communities of interconnected people that might serve as normative reference groups for individual-level behavior related to latrine adoption. METHODS We applied an algorithmic social network method to determine the network community from respondent-reported social ties of 16 403 individuals in 75 villages in rural Karnataka, India; data were collected from 2006 to 2008. We used multilevel modeling to test the association between latrine ownership and community-level and village-level latrine ownership. We also investigated the degree to which network cohesion affected individual latrine ownership. RESULTS Three levels of social contacts (direct friends, social network community, and village) significantly predicted individual latrine ownership, but the strongest effect was found at the level of social network communities. In communities with high levels of network cohesion, the likelihood was decreased that any individual would own a latrine; this effect was significant only at lower levels of latrine ownership, suggesting a role for network cohesion in facilitating the nonownership norm. CONCLUSIONS Although many international health and development interventions target village units, these results raise the possibility that the optimal target for public health interventions may not be determined through geography but through social network interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly B Shakya
- Holly B. Shakya is with School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego. Nicholas A. Christakis is with Yale Department of Sociology, New Haven, CT. James H. Fowler is with Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla
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Coviello L, Sohn Y, Kramer ADI, Marlow C, Franceschetti M, Christakis NA, Fowler JH. Detecting emotional contagion in massive social networks. PLoS One 2014; 9:e90315. [PMID: 24621792 PMCID: PMC3951248 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 256] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2013] [Accepted: 01/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Happiness and other emotions spread between people in direct contact, but it is unclear whether massive online social networks also contribute to this spread. Here, we elaborate a novel method for measuring the contagion of emotional expression. With data from millions of Facebook users, we show that rainfall directly influences the emotional content of their status messages, and it also affects the status messages of friends in other cities who are not experiencing rainfall. For every one person affected directly, rainfall alters the emotional expression of about one to two other people, suggesting that online social networks may magnify the intensity of global emotional synchrony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Coviello
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Yunkyu Sohn
- Political Science Department, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | | | - Cameron Marlow
- Facebook Inc., Menlo Park, California, United States of America
| | - Massimo Franceschetti
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Nicholas A. Christakis
- Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - James H. Fowler
- Political Science Department, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- Medical Genetics Division, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Brakefield TA, Mednick SC, Wilson HW, De Neve JE, Christakis NA, Fowler JH. Same-sex sexual attraction does not spread in adolescent social networks. Arch Sex Behav 2014; 43:335-44. [PMID: 23842784 PMCID: PMC3888648 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-013-0142-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2012] [Revised: 03/07/2013] [Accepted: 05/10/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Peers have a powerful effect on adolescents' beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Here, we examine the role of social networks in the spread of attitudes towards sexuality using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Although we found evidence that both sexual activity (OR = 1.79) and desire to have a romantic relationship (OR = 2.69) may spread from person to person, attraction to same sex partners did not spread (OR = 0.96). Analyses of comparable power to those that suggest positive and significant peer-to-peer influence in sexual behavior fail to demonstrate a significant relationship on sexual attraction between friends or siblings. These results suggest that peer influence has little or no effect on the tendency toward heterosexual or homosexual attraction in teens, and that sexual orientation is not transmitted via social networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany A Brakefield
- Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, 60064, USA,
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Abstract
Centralized sanctioning institutions have been shown to emerge naturally through social learning, displace all other forms of punishment and lead to stable cooperation. However, this result provokes a number of questions. If centralized sanctioning is so successful, then why do many highly authoritarian states suffer from low levels of cooperation? Why do states with high levels of public good provision tend to rely more on citizen-driven peer punishment? Here, we consider how corruption influences the evolution of cooperation and punishment. Our model shows that the effectiveness of centralized punishment in promoting cooperation breaks down when some actors in the model are allowed to bribe centralized authorities. Counterintuitively, a weaker centralized authority is actually more effective because it allows peer punishment to restore cooperation in the presence of corruption. Our results provide an evolutionary rationale for why public goods provision rarely flourishes in polities that rely only on strong centralized institutions. Instead, cooperation requires both decentralized and centralized enforcement. These results help to explain why citizen participation is a fundamental necessity for policing the commons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherief Abdallah
- Informatics Department, The British University in Dubai, , Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Patrick K, Marshall SJ, Davila EP, Kolodziejczyk JK, Fowler JH, Calfas KJ, Huang JS, Rock CL, Griswold WG, Gupta A, Merchant G, Norman GJ, Raab F, Donohue MC, Fogg BJ, Robinson TN. Design and implementation of a randomized controlled social and mobile weight loss trial for young adults (project SMART). Contemp Clin Trials 2014; 37:10-8. [PMID: 24215774 PMCID: PMC3910290 DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2013.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2013] [Revised: 10/29/2013] [Accepted: 11/01/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To describe the theoretical rationale, intervention design, and clinical trial of a two-year weight control intervention for young adults deployed via social and mobile media. METHODS A total of 404 overweight or obese college students from three Southern California universities (M(age) = 22( ± 4) years; M(BMI) = 29( ± 2.8); 70% female) were randomized to participate in the intervention or to receive an informational web-based weight loss program. The intervention is based on behavioral theory and integrates intervention elements across multiple touch points, including Facebook, text messaging, smartphone applications, blogs, and e-mail. Participants are encouraged to seek social support among their friends, self-monitor their weight weekly, post their health behaviors on Facebook, and e-mail their weight loss questions/concerns to a health coach. The intervention is adaptive because new theory-driven and iteratively tailored intervention elements are developed and released over the course of the two-year intervention in response to patterns of use and user feedback. Measures of body mass index, waist circumference, diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, weight management practices, smoking, alcohol, sleep, body image, self-esteem, and depression occur at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Currently, all participants have been recruited, and all are in the final year of the trial. CONCLUSION Theory-driven, evidence-based strategies for physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary intake can be embedded in an intervention using social and mobile technologies to promote healthy weight-related behaviors in young adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Patrick
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
| | - S J Marshall
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - E P Davila
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - J K Kolodziejczyk
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, United States
| | - J H Fowler
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Medical Genetics Division and Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - K J Calfas
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - J S Huang
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA 92123, United States; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - C L Rock
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - W G Griswold
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - A Gupta
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States
| | - G Merchant
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, United States
| | - G J Norman
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - F Raab
- Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems (CWPHS), Qualcomm Institute/Calit2, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0628, United States; Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - M C Donohue
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - B J Fogg
- Behavior Design Lab, Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
| | - T N Robinson
- Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
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Lee JJ, Sohn Y, Fowler JH. Emotion regulation as the foundation of political attitudes: does reappraisal decrease support for conservative policies? PLoS One 2013; 8:e83143. [PMID: 24367583 PMCID: PMC3867439 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2013] [Accepted: 10/30/2013] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive scientists, behavior geneticists, and political scientists have identified several ways in which emotions influence political attitudes, and psychologists have shown that emotion regulation can have an important causal effect on physiology, cognition, and subjective experience. However, no work to date explores the possibility that emotion regulation may shape political ideology and attitudes toward policies. Here, we conduct four studies that investigate the role of a particular emotion regulation strategy – reappraisal in particular. Two observational studies show that individual differences in emotion regulation styles predict variation in political orientations and support for conservative policies. In the third study, we experimentally induce disgust as the target emotion to be regulated and show that use of reappraisal reduces the experience of disgust, thereby decreasing moral concerns associated with conservatism. In the final experimental study, we show that use of reappraisal successfully attenuates the relationship between trait-level disgust sensitivity and support for conservative policies. Our findings provide the first evidence of a critical link between emotion regulation and political attitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jooa Julia Lee
- Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Yunkyu Sohn
- Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - James H. Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Division of Medical Genetics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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Johnson DDP, Blumstein DT, Fowler JH, Haselton MG. The evolution of error: error management, cognitive constraints, and adaptive decision-making biases. Trends Ecol Evol 2013; 28:474-81. [PMID: 23787087 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2013.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2013] [Revised: 05/10/2013] [Accepted: 05/16/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dominic D P Johnson
- Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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36
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Johnson DD, Fowler JH. Complexity and simplicity in the evolution of decision-making biases. Trends Ecol Evol 2013; 28:446-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2013.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2013] [Revised: 06/04/2013] [Accepted: 06/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between the parenting style of an adolescent's peers' parents and an adolescent's substance use. DESIGN Longitudinal survey. SETTING Adolescents across the United States were interviewed at school and at home. PARTICIPANTS Nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States. MAIN EXPOSURE Authoritative vs neglectful parenting style of adolescent's parents and adolescent's friends' parents and adolescent substance use. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Adolescent alcohol abuse, smoking, marijuana use, and binge drinking. RESULTS If an adolescent had a friend whose mother was authoritative, that adolescent was 40% (95% CI, 12%-58%) less likely to drink to the point of drunkenness, 38% (95% CI, 5%-59%) less likely to binge drink, 39% (95% CI, 12%-58%) less likely to smoke cigarettes, and 43% (95% CI, 1%-67%) less likely to use marijuana than an adolescent whose friend's mother was neglectful, controlling for the parenting style of the adolescent's own mother, school-level fixed effects, and demographics. These results were only partially mediated by peer substance use. CONCLUSIONS Social network influences may extend beyond the homogeneous dimensions of own peer or own parent to include extradyadic influences of the wider network. The value of parenting interventions should be reassessed to take into account these spillover effects in the greater network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly B Shakya
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA.
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Abstract
Here, we review the research we have conducted on social contagion. We describe the methods we have employed (and the assumptions they have entailed) to examine several datasets with complementary strengths and weaknesses, including the Framingham Heart Study, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and other observational and experimental datasets that we and others have collected. We describe the regularities that led us to propose that human social networks may exhibit a 'three degrees of influence' property, and we review statistical approaches we have used to characterize interpersonal influence with respect to phenomena as diverse as obesity, smoking, cooperation, and happiness. We do not claim that this work is the final word, but we do believe that it provides some novel, informative, and stimulating evidence regarding social contagion in longitudinally followed networks. Along with other scholars, we are working to develop new methods for identifying causal effects using social network data, and we believe that this area is ripe for statistical development as current methods have known and often unavoidable limitations.
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Schreiber D, Fonzo G, Simmons AN, Dawes CT, Flagan T, Fowler JH, Paulus MP. Red brain, blue brain: evaluative processes differ in Democrats and Republicans. PLoS One 2013; 8:e52970. [PMID: 23418419 PMCID: PMC3572122 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2012] [Accepted: 11/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Liberals and conservatives exhibit different cognitive styles and converging lines of evidence suggest that biology influences differences in their political attitudes and beliefs. In particular, a recent study of young adults suggests that liberals and conservatives have significantly different brain structure, with liberals showing increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, and conservatives showing increased gray matter volume in the in the amygdala. Here, we explore differences in brain function in liberals and conservatives by matching publicly-available voter records to 82 subjects who performed a risk-taking task during functional imaging. Although the risk-taking behavior of Democrats (liberals) and Republicans (conservatives) did not differ, their brain activity did. Democrats showed significantly greater activity in the left insula, while Republicans showed significantly greater activity in the right amygdala. In fact, a two parameter model of partisanship based on amygdala and insula activations yields a better fitting model of partisanship than a well-established model based on parental socialization of party identification long thought to be one of the core findings of political science. These results suggest that liberals and conservatives engage different cognitive processes when they think about risk, and they support recent evidence that conservatives show greater sensitivity to threatening stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Schreiber
- Department of Politics, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - James H. Fowler
- Division of Medical Genetics; University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive; La Jolla CA 92093 U.S.A
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Bond RM, Fariss CJ, Jones JJ, Kramer ADI, Marlow C, Settle JE, Fowler JH. A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization. Nature 2012; 489:295-8. [PMID: 22972300 DOI: 10.1038/nature11421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 429] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2012] [Accepted: 07/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Human behaviour is thought to spread through face-to-face social networks, but it is difficult to identify social influence effects in observational studies, and it is unknown whether online social networks operate in the same way. Here we report results from a randomized controlled trial of political mobilization messages delivered to 61 million Facebook users during the 2010 US congressional elections. The results show that the messages directly influenced political self-expression, information seeking and real-world voting behaviour of millions of people. Furthermore, the messages not only influenced the users who received them but also the users' friends, and friends of friends. The effect of social transmission on real-world voting was greater than the direct effect of the messages themselves, and nearly all the transmission occurred between 'close friends' who were more likely to have a face-to-face relationship. These results suggest that strong ties are instrumental for spreading both online and real-world behaviour in human social networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert M Bond
- Political Science Department, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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Abstract
We explore the influence of genetic variation on subjective well-being by employing a twin design and genetic association study. In a nationally-representative twin sample, we first show that about 33% of the variation in life satisfaction is explained by genetic variation. Although previous studies have shown that baseline happiness is significantly heritable, little research has considered molecular genetic associations with subjective well-being. We study the relationship between a functional polymorphism on the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and life satisfaction. We initially find that individuals with the longer, transcriptionally more efficient variant of this genotype report greater life satisfaction (n=2,545, p=0.012). However, our replication attempts on independent samples produce mixed results indicating that more work needs to be done to better understand the relationship between this genotype and subjective well-being. This work has implications for how economists think about the determinants of utility, and the extent to which exogenous shocks might affect individual well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
- School of Public Policy, University College London, and Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), London School of Economics
| | | | - James H Fowler
- Department of Medicine and Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego
| | - Bruno S Frey
- Warwick Business School, and Department of Economics, Zeppelin University
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De Neve JE, Mikhaylov S, Dawes CT, Christakis NA, Fowler JH. Born to Lead? A Twin Design and Genetic Association Study of Leadership Role Occupancy. Leadersh Q 2012; 24:45-60. [PMID: 23459689 DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We address leadership emergence and the possibility that there is a partially innate predisposition to occupy a leadership role. Employing twin design methods on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate the heritability of leadership role occupancy at 24%. Twin studies do not point to specific genes or neurological processes that might be involved. We therefore also conduct association analysis on the available genetic markers. The results show that leadership role occupancy is associated with rs4950, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) residing on a neuronal acetylcholine receptor gene (CHRNB3). We replicate this family-based genetic association result on an independent sample in the Framingham Heart Study. This is the first study to identify a specific genotype associated with the tendency to occupy a leadership position. The results suggest that what determines whether an individual occupies a leadership position is the complex product of genetic and environmental influences; with a particular role for rs4950.
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O’Malley AJ, Arbesman S, Steiger DM, Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Egocentric social network structure, health, and pro-social behaviors in a national panel study of Americans. PLoS One 2012; 7:e36250. [PMID: 22615760 PMCID: PMC3352911 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2012] [Accepted: 04/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Using a population-based, panel survey, we study how egocentric social networks change over time, and the relationship between egocentric network properties and health and pro-social behaviors. We find that the number of prosocial activities is strongly positively associated with having more friends, or an increase in degree, with approximately 0.04 more prosocial behaviors expected for every friend added. Moreover, having more friends is associated with an improvement in health, while being healthy and prosocial is associated with closer relationships. Specifically, a unit increase in health is associated with an expected 0.45 percentage-point increase in average closeness, while adding a prosocial activity is associated with a 0.46 percentage-point increase in the closeness of one’s relationships. Furthermore, a tradeoff between degree and closeness of social contacts was observed. As the number of close social contacts increases by one, the estimated average closeness of each individual contact decreases by approximately three percentage-points. The increased awareness of the importance of spillover effects in health and health care makes the ascertainment of egocentric social networks a valuable complement to investigations of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. James O’Malley
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AJO); (SA)
| | - Samuel Arbesman
- Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AJO); (SA)
| | | | - James H. Fowler
- Departments of Medical Genetics and Political Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Nicholas A. Christakis
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Baker LA, Barton M, Lozano DI, Raine A, Fowler JH. The Southern California Twin Register at the University of Southern California: II. Twin Res Hum Genet 2012. [DOI: 10.1375/twin.9.6.933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe Southern California Twin Register was initiated in 1984 at the University of Southern California, and continues to grow. This article provides an update of the register since it was described in the 2002 special issue of this journal. The register has expanded considerably in the past 4 years, primarily as a result of recent access to Los Angeles County birth records and voter registration databases. Currently, this register contains nearly 5000 twin pairs, the majority of whom are school age. The potential for further expansion in adult twins using voter registration records is also described. Using the Los Angeles County voter registration database, we can identify a large group of individuals with a high probability of having a twin who also resides in Los Angeles County. In addition to describing the expansion of register, this article provides an overview of an ongoing investigation of 605 twin pairs who are participating in a longitudinal study of behavioral problems during childhood and adolescence. Characteristics of the twins and their families are presented, indicating baseline rates of conduct problems, depression and anxiety disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnoses which are comparable to nontwins in this age range.
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Strully KW, Fowler JH, Murabito JM, Benjamin EJ, Levy D, Christakis NA. Aspirin use and cardiovascular events in social networks. Soc Sci Med 2012; 74:1125-9. [PMID: 22361089 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2011] [Revised: 11/15/2011] [Accepted: 12/06/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
We tested whether friends' and family members' cardiovascular health events and also their own aspirin use are associated with the likelihood that an individual takes aspirin regularly. Analyses were based on longitudinal data on 2724 members of the Framingham Heart Study (based in Massachusetts, U.S.A.) who were linked to friends and family members who were also participants in the same study. Men were more likely to take aspirin if a male friend had recently been taking aspirin, and women were more likely to take aspirin if a brother had recently been taking aspirin. Men were also more likely to take aspirin if a brother recently had a cardiovascular event, and women were more likely to take aspirin if a female friend recently experienced a cardiovascular event. Aspirin use is correlated with the health and behavior of friends and family. These findings add to a growing body of evidence which suggests that behavioral changes that promote cardiovascular health may spread through social networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate W Strully
- Department of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
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Abstract
The etiology of depression has long been thought to include social environmental factors. To quantitatively explore the novel possibility of person-to-person spread and network-level determination of depressive symptoms, analyses were performed on a densely interconnected social network of 12,067 people assessed repeatedly over 32 years as part of the Framingham Heart Study. Longitudinal statistical models were used to examine whether depressive symptoms in one person were associated with similar scores in friends, co-workers, siblings, spouses and neighbors. Depressive symptoms were assessed using CES-D scores that were available for subjects in three waves measured between 1983 and 2001. Results showed both low and high CES-D scores (and classification as being depressed) in a given period were strongly correlated with such scores in one's friends and neighbors. This association extended up to three degrees of separation (to one's friends' friends' friends). Female friends appear to be especially influential in the spread of depression from one person to another. The results are robust to multiple network simulation and estimation methods, suggesting that network phenomena appear relevant to the epidemiology of depression and would benefit from further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- JN Rosenquist
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA,Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - JH Fowler
- Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - NA Christakis
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA,Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Abstract
It is well known that humans tend to associate with other humans who have similar characteristics, but it is unclear whether this tendency has consequences for the distribution of genotypes in a population. Although geneticists have shown that populations tend to stratify genetically, this process results from geographic sorting or assortative mating, and it is unknown whether genotypes may be correlated as a consequence of nonreproductive associations or other processes. Here, we study six available genotypes from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to test for genetic similarity between friends. Maps of the friendship networks show clustering of genotypes and, after we apply strict controls for population stratification, the results show that one genotype is positively correlated (homophily) and one genotype is negatively correlated (heterophily). A replication study in an independent sample from the Framingham Heart Study verifies that DRD2 exhibits significant homophily and that CYP2A6 exhibits significant heterophily. These unique results show that homophily and heterophily obtain on a genetic (indeed, an allelic) level, which has implications for the study of population genetics and social behavior. In particular, the results suggest that association tests should include friends' genes and that theories of evolution should take into account the fact that humans might, in some sense, be metagenomic with respect to the humans around them.
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Affiliation(s)
- James H Fowler
- Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Political Science, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
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Beauchamp JP, Cesarini D, Johannesson M, van der Loos MJHM, Koellinger PD, Groenen PJF, Fowler JH, Rosenquist JN, Thurik AR, Christakis NA. Molecular Genetics and Economics. J Econ Perspect 2011; 25:57-82. [PMID: 22427719 PMCID: PMC3306008 DOI: 10.1257/jep.25.4.57] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The costs of comprehensively genotyping human subjects have fallen to the point where major funding bodies, even in the social sciences, are beginning to incorporate genetic and biological markers into major social surveys. How, if at all, should economists use and combine molecular genetic and economic data from these surveys? What challenges arise when analyzing genetically informative data? To illustrate, we present results from a “genome-wide association study” of educational attainment. We use a sample of 7,500 individuals from the Framingham Heart Study; our dataset contains over 360,000 genetic markers per person. We get some initially promising results linking genetic markers to educational attainment, but these fail to replicate in a second large sample of 9,500 people from the Rotterdam Study. Unfortunately such failure is typical in molecular genetic studies of this type, so the example is also cautionary. We discuss a number of methodological challenges that face researchers who use molecular genetics to reliably identify genetic associates of economic traits. Our overall assessment is cautiously optimistic: this new data source has potential in economics. But researchers and consumers of the genoeconomic literature should be wary of the pitfalls, most notably the difficulty of doing reliable inference when faced with multiple hypothesis problems on a scale never before encountered in social science.
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