University of Catania, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Elettronica e Informatica, Catania, CNIT 95125, Italy.
University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, Cambridge, CB3 0FD, UK.
Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 22;8(1):5005. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23260-2.
Heterogeneity of human beings leads to think and react differently to social phenomena. Awareness and homophily drive people to weigh interactions in social multiplex networks, influencing a potential contagion effect. To quantify the impact of heterogeneity on spreading dynamics, we propose a model of coevolution of social contagion and awareness, through the introduction of statistical estimators, in a weighted multiplex network. Multiplexity of networked individuals may trigger propagation enough to produce effects among vulnerable subjects experiencing distress, mental disorder, which represent some of the strongest predictors of suicidal behaviours. The exposure to suicide is emotionally harmful, since talking about it may give support or inadvertently promote it. To disclose the complex effect of the overlapping awareness on suicidal ideation spreading among disordered people, we also introduce a data-driven approach by integrating different types of data. Our modelling approach unveils the relationship between distress and mental disorders propagation and suicidal ideation spreading, shedding light on the role of awareness in a social network for suicide prevention. The proposed model is able to quantify the impact of overlapping awareness on suicidal ideation spreading and our findings demonstrate that it plays a dual role on contagion, either reinforcing or delaying the contagion outbreak.
人类的异质性导致他们对社会现象的思考和反应不同。意识和同质性促使人们在社会多重网络中权衡互动，影响潜在的传染效应。为了量化异质性对传播动态的影响，我们通过引入统计估计量，在加权多重网络中提出了一个社会传染和意识共同进化的模型。网络个体的多重性可能引发足够的传播，从而在经历困扰、精神障碍的脆弱主体中产生影响，而这些正是自杀行为的最强预测因素之一。接触自杀是一种情感上的伤害，因为谈论自杀可能会提供支持，或者无意中促进它。为了揭示重叠意识对紊乱人群中自杀意念传播的复杂影响，我们还通过整合不同类型的数据，引入了一种数据驱动的方法。我们的建模方法揭示了困扰和精神障碍传播与自杀意念传播之间的关系，阐明了意识在预防自杀的社交网络中的作用。所提出的模型能够量化重叠意识对自杀意念传播的影响，我们的研究结果表明，它在传染中起着双重作用，要么加强，要么延迟传染的爆发。
