Population ageing requires society to adjust by ensuring additional types of services and assistance for elderly people. These may be provided by either organized services and sources of informal social support. The latter are especially important since a lack of social support is associated with a lower level of psychological and physical well-being. During the Covid-19 pandemic, social support for the elderly has proven to be even more crucial, also due to physical distancing. Therefore, this study aims to identify and describe the various types of personal social support networks available to the elderly population during the pandemic. To this end, a survey of Slovenians older than 64 years was conducted from April 25 to May 4, 2020 on a probability web-panel-based sample (n = 605). The ego networks were clustered by a hierarchical clustering approach for symbolic data. Clustering was performed for different types of social support (socializing, instrumental support, emotional support) and different characteristics of the social support networks (i.e., type of relationship, number of contacts, geographical distance). The results show that most of the elderly population in Slovenia has a satisfactory social support network, while the share of those without any (accessible) source of social support is significant. The results are particularly valuable for sustainable care policy planning, crisis intervention planning as well as any future waves of the coronavirus.
This article examines the structure of co-authorship networks’ stability in time. The goal of the article is to analyse differences in the stability and size of groups of researchers that co-author with each other (core research groups) formed in disciplines from the natural and technical sciences on one hand and the social sciences and humanities on the other. The cores were obtained by a pre-specified blockmodeling procedure assuming a multi-core–semi-periphery–periphery structure. The stability of the obtained cores was measured with the Modified Adjusted Rand Index. The assumed structure was confirmed in all analysed disciplines. The average size of the cores obtained is higher in the second time period and the average core size is greater in the natural and technical sciences than in the social sciences and humanities. There are no differences in average core stability between the natural and technical sciences and the social sciences and humanities. However, if the stability of cores is defined by the splitting of cores and not also by the percentage of researchers who left the cores, the average stability of the cores is higher in disciplines from the scientific fields of Engineering sciences and technologies and Medical sciences than in disciplines of the Humanities, if controlling for the networks’ and disciplines’ characteristics. The analysis was performed on disciplinary co-authorship networks of Slovenian researchers in two time periods (1991–2000 and 2001–2010).
Uvod: Spletne svetovalnice predstavljajo nov medij za iskanje informacij o zdravju. Cilj raziskave je ugotoviti pomen analiz vprašanj mladostnikov za razumevanje njihovih problemov, potreb in hrepenenj. Metode: Leta 2012 je bila uvedena katalogizacija vprašanj spletne svetovalnice glede na tipologijo problemov. Vprašanja so bila glede na vsebino sproti razvrščena v krovno kategorijo in nato pod več vsebinskih tem. Izračunani so bili deleži, povprečja ter kvartili, v nekaterih primerih Cramerjevih V koeficientov. Analiza je zajela celotno opredeljeno statistično populacijo (3.257 kodiranih vprašanj), obiskovalcev spletne svetovalnice, v obdobju med 1. januarjem 2012 in 31. decembrom 2012. Rezultati: Večino uporabnikov predstavljajo dekleta (76 %), najbolj reprezentativno skupino mladostnikov pa stari med 14 in 17 let (57 %). Največ vprašanj je bilo razvrščenih v kategorije spolnost in spolno zdravje (24 %), odnosi (23 %) in telo (20 %). Dolžina objav raste s starostjo uporabnika (Cr's V = 0,18), razlikuje pa se tudi glede na spol uporabnika (dekleta so objavila večji delež daljših vprašanj (Cr's V = 0,15)) in tematiko (Cr's V = 0,31). Diskusija in zaključek: Katalogizacija vprašanj je primerna za identifikacijo in analizo problemov, potreb in hrepenenj mladostnikov. Redna periodična klasifikacija vprašanj z analizami bo služila kot uporabno raziskovalno orodje za delo z mladostniki.
The paper addresses the relationship between different local network mechanisms and different global network structures, described by blockmodels. The research question is narrowed to the context of preschool children networks. Based on the studies regarding friendship, liking and interactional networks among preschool children, the popularity, transitivity, mutuality and assortativity mechanisms are assumed to be important for the evolution of such networks. It is assumed that the global network structure is defined by an asymmetric core-cohesive blockmodel consisting of one core group of units and two or more cohesive groups of units. Therefore, the main research question is whether the emergence of an asymmetric core-cohesive blockmodel can be a result of the influence of the listed mechanisms. Different initial global network structures are considered. Monte Carlo simulations were used. The relative fit measure is proposed and used to compare different blockmodel types on generated networks. The results show that the listed mechanisms indeed lead to the assumed global network structure.
Researchers have extensively studied the social mechanisms that drive the formation of networks observed among preschool children. However, less attention has been given to global network structures in terms of blockmodels. A blockmodel is a network where the nodes are groups of equivalent units (according to links to others) from a studied network. Cugmas et al. [1] showed that mutuality, popularity, assortativity, and different types of transitivity mechanisms can lead the global network structure to the proposed asymmetric core-cohesive blockmodel. Yet, they did not provide any evidence that such a global network structure actually appears in any empirical data. In this paper, the symmetric version of the core-cohesive blockmodel type is proposed. This blockmodel type consists of three or more groups of units. The units from each group are internally well linked to each other while those from different groups are not linked to each other. This is true for all groups, except one in which the units have mutual links to all other units in the network. In this study, it is shown that the proposed blockmodel type appears in empirical interactional networks collected among preschool children. Monte Carlo simulations confirm that the most often studied social network mechanisms can lead the global network structure to the proposed symmetric blockmodel type. The units' attributes are not considered in this study.June 12, 2019 1/17 links established with all units in the network, while the units from the other groups (called cohesive groups) are internally well linked. The units from different cohesive groups are not linked to each other. This global network structure (called symmetric core-cohesive blockmodel, described in more detail in subsection Global network structure) is proposed since it is a combination of cohesive and symmetric core-periphery global network structures and because these global network structures can arise from the well-known transitivity [1,2] and popularity [1] mechanisms. These two mechanisms were found to be present in the formation of many liking and friendship networks collected among preschoolers (see subsection Local mechanisms).The assumption made in this study is that the proposed global network structure appears among preschool children. Entrance to preschool brings a set of peers together who were previously unknown to one another. This is rare in the natural world and, thus, the shift into preschool peer groups offers a unique opportunity to assess and understand the mechanisms behind peer group formation. Preschool entry is also distinct from other social network settings in that it offers a closed network space in which peers interact. Preschool also provides a unique developmental context in which children are motivated, perhaps for the first time, to form new and enduring social relationships with similar-age peers [3,4].This assumption (of the emergence of the proposed global network structure) is tested by using the blockmodeling approach [5] on the symmetrized networks previ...
Objective Informational social support is one of the main reasons for patients to visit online health communities (OHCs). Calls have been made to investigate the objective quality of such support in the light of a worrying number of inaccurate online health-related information. The main aim of this study is to conceptualize the Quality of Informational Social Support (QISS) and develop and test a measure of QISS for content analysis. A further aim is to investigate the level of QISS in cancer-related messages in the largest OHC in Slovenia and examine the differences among various types of discussion forums, namely, online consultation forums, online support group forums, and socializing forums. Methods A multidimensional measurement instrument was developed, which included 20 items in a coding scheme for a content analysis of cancer-related messages. On a set of almost three million posts published between 2015 and 2019, a machine-learning algorithm was used to detect cancer-related discussions in the OHC. We then identified the messages providing informational social support, and through quantitative content analysis, three experts coded a random sample of 403 cancer-related messages for the QISS. Results The results demonstrate a good level of interrater reliability and agreement for a QISS scale with six dimensions, each demonstrating good internal consistency. The results reveal large differences among the social support, socializing, and consultation forums, with the latter recording significantly higher quality in terms of accuracy (M = 4.48, P < .001), trustworthiness (M = 4.65, P < .001), relevance (M = 3.59, P < .001), and justification (M = 3.81, P = .05) in messages providing informational social support regarding cancer-related issues. Conclusions This study provides the research field with a valid tool to further investigate the factors and consequences of varying quality of information exchanged in supportive communication. From a practical perspective, OHCs should dedicate more resources and develop mechanisms for the professional moderation of health-related topics in socializing forums and thereby suppress the publication and dissemination of low-quality information among OHC users and visitors.
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