Department of Dental Public Health, 6614University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, PA, USA.
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, 12317University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, PA, USA.
HERD. 2021 Oct;14(4):18-34. doi: 10.1177/19375867211013772. Epub 2021 May 11.
OBJECTIVE/AIM: We describe best practices for modeling egocentric networks and health outcomes using a five-step guide.
Social network analysis (SNA) is common in social science fields and has more recently been used to study health-related topics including obesity, violence, substance use, health organizational behavior, and healthcare utilization. SNA, alone or in conjunction with spatial analysis, can be used to uniquely evaluate the impact of the physical or built environment on health. The environment can shape the presence, quality, and function of social relationships with spatial and network processes interacting to affect health outcomes. While there are some common measures frequently used in modeling the impact of social networks on health outcomes, there is no standard approach to social network modeling in health research, which impacts rigor and reproducibility.
We provide an overview of social network concepts and terminology focused on egocentric network data. Egocentric, or personal networks, take the perspective of an individual who identifies their own connections (alters) and also the relationships between alters.
We describe best practices for modeling egocentric networks and health outcomes according to the following five-step guide: (1) model selection, (2) social network exposure variable and selection considerations, (3) covariate selection related to sociodemographic and health characteristics, (4) covariate selection related to social network characteristics, and (5) analytic considerations. We also present an example of SNA.
SNA provides a powerful repertoire of techniques to examine how relationships impact attitudes, experiences, and behaviors-and subsequently health.
目的/目标：我们描述了使用五步指南对以自我为中心的网络和健康结果进行建模的最佳实践。
社会网络分析（SNA）在社会科学领域中很常见，最近也被用于研究与健康相关的主题，包括肥胖、暴力、药物使用、健康组织行为和医疗保健利用。SNA 可以单独使用，也可以与空间分析一起使用，用于独特地评估物理或建筑环境对健康的影响。环境可以塑造社会关系的存在、质量和功能，空间和网络过程相互作用影响健康结果。虽然在建模社会网络对健康结果的影响方面有一些常用的共同措施，但在健康研究中，没有标准的社会网络建模方法，这影响了严谨性和可重复性。
我们提供了一个以自我为中心的网络数据为重点的社会网络概念和术语概述。以自我为中心或个人网络从个体的角度出发，确定他们自己的联系（节点）以及节点之间的关系。
我们根据以下五个步骤指南描述了对以自我为中心的网络和健康结果进行建模的最佳实践：（1）模型选择，（2）社会网络暴露变量和选择考虑因素，（3）与社会人口学和健康特征相关的协变量选择，（4）与社会网络特征相关的协变量选择，以及（5）分析考虑因素。我们还展示了一个 SNA 的示例。
SNA 提供了一系列强大的技术，用于研究关系如何影响态度、经验和行为，以及随后对健康的影响。
