An Appraisal of Social Network Theory and Analysis as Applied to Public Health: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The use of social network theory and analysis methods as applied to public health has expanded greatly in the past decade, yielding a significant academic literature that spans almost every conceivable health issue. This review identifies several important theoretical challenges that confront the field but also provides opportunities for new research. These challenges include (a) measuring network influences, (b) identifying appropriate influence mechanisms, (c) the impact of social media and computerized communications, (d) the role of networks in evaluating public health interventions, and (e) ethics. Next steps for the field are outlined and the need for funding is emphasized. Recently developed network analysis techniques, technological innovations in communication, and changes in theoretical perspectives to include a focus on social and environmental behavioral influences have created opportunities for new theory and ever broader application of social networks to public health topics.

Network‐based Approaches in Pharmacology

“…The general concept of a network is based on interconnectivity between different components and their interdependencies to explain an outcome. The most known and representative examples of this concept are social networks . In biology, the same concept, called network biology, can be applied, connecting several entities at the molecular, cellular, pathways or more complex levels to decipher a phenotype, a disease, or any kind of biological outcome of interest.…”

Factors Influencing Not Perceiving Family Health History Assessments as Important: Opportunities to Improve Dissemination of Evidence-Based Population Screening for Cancer

“…For example, a simple measure of the presence of a family “kin keeper,” a go-to person in the family who is most knowledgeable about family health, could give insight into how family characteristics affect views about the importance of FHH [87-89]. Further, other innovative data collection techniques such as respondent-driven sampling and network-based approaches in dissemination campaigns could lend insight into factors that improve engagement of families in FHH assessment [90, 91]. Strategies to improve FHH collection also could draw on communal coping theory that suggests families may be galvanized around perceptions of shared risk and responsibility for health [92].…”

The Systematic Application of Network Diagnostics to Monitor and Tackle Bullying and Victimization in Schools

“…Empirical evidence in other domains supports the value of network diagnostics in inducing behavior change. Network processes have been found to mediate or moderate the effectiveness of a wide range of health interventions (Valente and Pitts 2017). A randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed that targeting the most influential (most popular/best leaders) peers in the classroom stimulated peer influence on children's own increased water consumption (Smit et al 2016).…”

“…Therefore, interventions are tailored to the particular situation (Cunningham et al 2019;Saarento et al 2015). Multiple studies have shown that network diagnostics can be used effectively in practice to reduce other health problems (for an overview, see Valente and Pitts 2017). Moreover, research has demonstrated that relationship information can be valuable to explain bullying processes (e.g., Sainio et al 2011;Van Der Ploeg et al 2020).…”