Patterns of Undergraduate Student Interpersonal Interaction Network Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In spring 2020, many U.S. colleges and universities rapidly shifted to online instruction and implemented social distancing policies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students experienced unprecedented disruption of their interpersonal academic and social networks due to the loss of physical proximity. We used egocentric network analysis and latent profile analysis with survey data from April 2020 and conducted follow-up interviews in September 2020 to examine some of the pandemic’s immediate effects on student interpersonal network change. We found the disappearance of interpersonal network patterns featuring coworkers and academic ties, as well as reductions in students’ overall number of connections and the role diversity of their networks. Results suggest potential ongoing reduction of peer academic relationships, implying that institutional personnel may need to pay particular attention to academic connections in online spaces and to regenerating students’ academic networks when on-campus physical spaces may again be used to support learning.

The Value of Interpersonal Network Continuity for College Students in Disruptive Times

“…In our examination of students' relationship content, we found increases in the percentage of social ties reported. This finding is consistent with research suggesting that latent ties can be reactivated for specific support needs (Perry & Pescosolido, 2012) and with our previous descriptive work indicating students who changed residences with the onset of social distancing policies sometimes replaced a campusbased social tie with a reactivated local tie (Smith et al, 2022). In contrast to social ties, academic ties tended to be lost more frequently, indicating that they were potentially more place-bound.…”

“…Since residential college students' relationship maintenance relies heavily upon proximity, pandemic-related physical campus disruption would imply a disruption of typical mechanisms that organize a campus's interpersonal networks. Studies in the U.S. (Smith et al, 2022) and Switzerland (Elmer et al, 2020) noted decreased numbers of academic ties among students following pandemic-induced social distancing policies.…”

Social Health and Psychological Safety of Students Involved in Online Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…For many students, their concerns about health and safety made studying harder, their academic enthusiasm faded, and their dim hopes for future employment eroded program completion [ 25 ]. Although the students experienced the digital revolution overnight, it was hard to understand much about their experiences after the universities closed down their campus activities; most countries worldwide closed their educational institutions temporarily to try and curb the spread of the coronavirus and to decrease infections.…”

Friendships and Student Success in College

“…Propinquity also shaped students' network ties during the COVID-19 pandemic. A study of students at a large public Midwestern university, using egocentric network data on 263 networks in April 2020 and follow-up interviews with 21 of those students in September 2020, finds variation in how their networks changed (Smith et al, 2022). Notably, proximity shaped who students mentioned as someone they sought out or interacted with.…”