Sexual Mixing in Shanghai: Are Heterosexual Contact Patterns Compatible With an HIV/AIDS Epidemic?

Merli, M. Giovanna; Moody, James; Mendelsohn, Joshua; Gauthier, G. Robin

doi:10.1007/s13524-015-0383-4

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Since structural cohesion is bound by degree (number of relations for a given individual), any setting with low average degree is likely also low-cohesion. For example, recent work on partnering patterns in Shanghi suggest a very low-cohesion network (16). In these low-cohesion settings, knowing the extent of temporal overlap is critical for understanding exposure risk, since concurrency is equivalent to adding extra paths or increasing the average degree of the network.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdependent effects of cohesion and concurrency for epidemic potential

Moody

Benton

2016

Annals of Epidemiology

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Purpose Network diffusion depends on both the pattern and timing of relations, but the relative effects of timing and structure remain unclear. Here we first show that concurrency (relations that overlap in time) increases epidemic potential by opening new routes in the network. Since this is substantively similar to adding contact paths, we next compare the effects of concurrency by observed levels of path redundancy (structural cohesion) to determine how the features interact. Methods We establish that concurrency increases exposure analytically and then use simulation methods to manipulate concurrency over observed networks that vary naturally on structural cohesion. This design allows us to compare networks across a wide range of concurrency holding constant features that might otherwise conflate concurrency and cohesion. We summarize the simulation results with general linear models. Results Our results indicate interdependent effects of concurrency and structural cohesion: although both increase epidemic potential, concurrency matters most when the graph structure is sparse, since the exposure created by concurrency is redundant to observed paths within structurally cohesive networks. Conclusions Concurrency works by opening new paths in temporally ordered networks. Because this is substantively similar to having additional observed paths, concurrency in sparse networks has the same effect as adding relations and will have the greatest effect on exposure potential in sparse networks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdependent effects of cohesion and concurrency for epidemic potential

Moody

Benton

2016

Annals of Epidemiology

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“…This would add to the emerging diagnostic toolkit being developed for RDS (Gile, Johnston, and Salganik 2015). A related extension of this approach could calculate the “structural risk” of a network sampled with RDS by applying percolation or other diffusion models to examine the size and speed of hypothetical epidemics spreading on the modeled network (Britton et al 2008; Merli, Moody, Mendelsohn, et al 2015)—a potential early warning system of a given hidden population’s epidemic potential gathered directly from RDS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Survey Questions and Estimators for Network Clustering with Respondent-driven Sampling Data

Verdery

Fisher

Siripong

et al. 2017

Sociological Methodology

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Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a popular method for sampling hard-to-survey populations that leverages social network connections through peer recruitment. While RDS is most frequently applied to estimate the prevalence of infections and risk behaviors of interest to public health, such as HIV/AIDS or condom use, it is rarely used to draw inferences about the structural properties of social networks among such populations because it does not typically collect the necessary data. Drawing on recent advances in computer science, we introduce a set of data collection instruments and RDS estimators for network clustering, an important topological property that has been linked to a network’s potential for diffusion of information, disease, and health behaviors. We use simulations to explore how these estimators, originally developed for random walk samples of computer networks, perform when applied to RDS samples with characteristics encountered in realistic field settings that depart from random walks. In particular, we explore the effects of multiple seeds, without replacement versus with replacement, branching chains, imperfect response rates, preferential recruitment, and misreporting of ties. We find that clustering coefficient estimators retain desirable properties in RDS samples. This paper takes an important step toward calculating network characteristics using nontraditional sampling methods, and it expands the potential of RDS to tell researchers more about hidden populations and the social factors driving disease prevalence.

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“…41 McMillan 2006Hu 2016. 42 Cao et al 2011;Parish, Laumann and Mojola 2007;Tian, Merli and Qian 2014;Merli et al 2015. 43 He 2012.…”

Section: Non-marital Romantic and Sexual Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Bachelorhood in Poverty-stricken and High Sex Ratio Settings: An Exploratory Study in Rural Shaanxi, China

Attané

Eklund²,

Merli³

et al. 2019

The China Quarterly

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Coupled with the social practice of female hypergamy, the male surplus within the never-married population means that today's Chinese marriage market is extremely tight in particular for men from a rural background and the least privileged socio-economic categories. Drawing on quantitative data from a survey conducted in 2014–2015, this article sheds light on the situation of single men who are past prime marriage age in three rural districts of Shaanxi particularly affected by this phenomenon. It compares single men's characteristics to those of their married counterparts and offers insights into the heterogeneity of single men with the aim of challenging some commonly accepted assumptions about bachelorhood in rural China. Results suggest a strong internalization of the various characteristics, centred on being able to offer social mobility to a potential wife, that a man is expected to have to be attractive to women in a context where women have more choice in mate selection. We conclude that mate selection is highly marked by class, social norms, social interactions, health, generation and age, and requires the mobilization of certain amounts of individual, social and economic resources. Unwanted bachelorhood would thus be better understood using an intersectional approach rather than mainly in numeric terms.

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Sexual Mixing in Shanghai: Are Heterosexual Contact Patterns Compatible With an HIV/AIDS Epidemic?

Cited by 15 publications

References 57 publications

Interdependent effects of cohesion and concurrency for epidemic potential

Interdependent effects of cohesion and concurrency for epidemic potential

New Survey Questions and Estimators for Network Clustering with Respondent-driven Sampling Data

Understanding Bachelorhood in Poverty-stricken and High Sex Ratio Settings: An Exploratory Study in Rural Shaanxi, China

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