BACKGROUND Significant domestic and global research has focused on HIV risk among China's large internal migrant population. Much of this work takes an individual behavior approach while ignoring the critical role social networks play in shaping HIV risk. METHODS Based on past studies among migrant men in China of yingchou activities (activities that build and reinforce social networks such a...

The social brain hypothesis proposes that the large size of the primate neocortex evolved to support complex and demanding social interactions. Accordingly, recent studies have reported correlations between the size of an individual's social network and the density of gray matter (GM) in regions of the brain implicated in social cognition. However, the reported relationships between GM density ...

the instrumental use of social networks has become a central tenet of international health policy and advocacy since the millennium project. in asking, ‘how to facilitate social contagion?’, karl blanchet of the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine therefore reflects not only on the recent success, but also hints to growing challenges; the tactics of partnerships, alliances and platfo...

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between the body size norms of Black and Hispanic adults and the body sizes of their social network members. METHODS Egocentric network data were examined for 245 adults recruited from 2012-2013 in New York City. A multivariable regression model was used to examine the relationship between participants' perception of normal body size and the body sizes of...

The effect of Internet use on social relationships is still a matter of intense debate. This study examined the relationships between use of social media (instant messaging and social network sites), network size, and emotional closeness in a sample of 117 individuals aged 18 to 63 years old. Time spent using social media was associated with a larger number of online social network "friends." H...

Social networks of 35 mentally ill persons were studied in Lao villages. Mental illness was associated with a decrease in size of social networks, disproportionate reliance on family, and asymmetric instrumental exchange. Nonkin "sponsors" provided assistance to those alienated from or abandoned by relatives. For those with late onset or episodic course, past accumulation of "social reserve" or...

To understand the diffusive spreading of a product in a telecom network, whether the product is a service, handset, or subscription, it can be very useful to study the structure of the underlying social network. By combining mobile traffic data and product adoption history from one of Telenor’s markets, we can define and measure an adoption network—roughly, the social network of adopters. By st...

INTRODUCTION Smokers' social networks vary in size, composition, and amount of exposure to smoking. The extent to which smokers' social networks change after a quit attempt is unknown, as is the relation between quitting success and later network changes. METHODS Unique types of social networks for 691 smokers enrolled in a smoking-cessation trial were identified based on network size, new ne...

PURPOSE To examine the associations between the size and quality of African-American adolescents' social networks and their mental health service use, and to examine whether these social network characteristics moderate the association between need for services because of emotional or behavioral difficulties and use of services. METHOD Participants were a community sample of African-American ...