A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors
Abstract The effective prevention of many infectious and non-infectious diseases relies on people concurrently adopting multiple prevention behaviors. Individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social networks have been found to explain why people take up specific prevention behaviors. However...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85240-7 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841544811000102912 |
|---|---|
| author | András Vörös Elisa Bellotti Carinthia Balabet Nengnong Mattimi Passah Quinnie Doreen Nongrum Charishma Khongwir Anna Maria van Eijk Anne Kessler Rajiv Sarkar Jane M. Carlton Sandra Albert |
| author_facet | András Vörös Elisa Bellotti Carinthia Balabet Nengnong Mattimi Passah Quinnie Doreen Nongrum Charishma Khongwir Anna Maria van Eijk Anne Kessler Rajiv Sarkar Jane M. Carlton Sandra Albert |
| author_sort | András Vörös |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The effective prevention of many infectious and non-infectious diseases relies on people concurrently adopting multiple prevention behaviors. Individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social networks have been found to explain why people take up specific prevention behaviors. However, it remains challenging to understand how these factors shape multiple interdependent behaviors. We propose a multilevel social network framework that allows us to study the effects of individual and social factors on multiple disease prevention behaviors simultaneously. We apply this approach to examine the factors explaining eight malaria prevention behaviors, using unique interview data collected from 1529 individuals in 10 hard-to-reach, malaria-endemic villages in Meghalaya, India in 2020–2022. Statistical network modelling reveals exposure to similar behaviors in one’s social network as the most important factor explaining prevention behaviors. Further, we find that households indirectly shape behaviors as key contexts for social ties. Together, these two factors are crucial for explaining the observed patterns of behaviors and social networks in the data, outweighing individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social network size. The results highlight that social network processes may facilitate or hamper disease prevention efforts that rely on a combination of behaviors. Our approach is well suited to study these processes in the context of various diseases. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3d27007224034413b9472535046ad657 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-3d27007224034413b9472535046ad6572025-01-12T12:17:05ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111610.1038/s41598-025-85240-7A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviorsAndrás Vörös0Elisa Bellotti1Carinthia Balabet Nengnong2Mattimi Passah3Quinnie Doreen Nongrum4Charishma Khongwir5Anna Maria van Eijk6Anne Kessler7Rajiv Sarkar8Jane M. Carlton9Sandra Albert10School of Social Policy and Society, University of BirminghamDepartment of Sociology, University of ManchesterIndian Institute of Public Health ShillongIndian Institute of Public Health ShillongIndian Institute of Public Health ShillongIndian Institute of Public Health ShillongCenter for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York UniversityCenter for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York UniversityIndian Institute of Public Health ShillongCenter for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York UniversityIndian Institute of Public Health ShillongAbstract The effective prevention of many infectious and non-infectious diseases relies on people concurrently adopting multiple prevention behaviors. Individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social networks have been found to explain why people take up specific prevention behaviors. However, it remains challenging to understand how these factors shape multiple interdependent behaviors. We propose a multilevel social network framework that allows us to study the effects of individual and social factors on multiple disease prevention behaviors simultaneously. We apply this approach to examine the factors explaining eight malaria prevention behaviors, using unique interview data collected from 1529 individuals in 10 hard-to-reach, malaria-endemic villages in Meghalaya, India in 2020–2022. Statistical network modelling reveals exposure to similar behaviors in one’s social network as the most important factor explaining prevention behaviors. Further, we find that households indirectly shape behaviors as key contexts for social ties. Together, these two factors are crucial for explaining the observed patterns of behaviors and social networks in the data, outweighing individual characteristics, opinion leaders, and social network size. The results highlight that social network processes may facilitate or hamper disease prevention efforts that rely on a combination of behaviors. Our approach is well suited to study these processes in the context of various diseases.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85240-7 |
| spellingShingle | András Vörös Elisa Bellotti Carinthia Balabet Nengnong Mattimi Passah Quinnie Doreen Nongrum Charishma Khongwir Anna Maria van Eijk Anne Kessler Rajiv Sarkar Jane M. Carlton Sandra Albert A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors Scientific Reports |
| title | A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors |
| title_full | A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors |
| title_fullStr | A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors |
| title_full_unstemmed | A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors |
| title_short | A multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease-prevention behaviors |
| title_sort | multilevel social network approach to studying multiple disease prevention behaviors |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85240-7 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andrasvoros amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT elisabellotti amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT carinthiabalabetnengnong amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT mattimipassah amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT quinniedoreennongrum amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT charishmakhongwir amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT annamariavaneijk amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT annekessler amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT rajivsarkar amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT janemcarlton amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT sandraalbert amultilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT andrasvoros multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT elisabellotti multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT carinthiabalabetnengnong multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT mattimipassah multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT quinniedoreennongrum multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT charishmakhongwir multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT annamariavaneijk multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT annekessler multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT rajivsarkar multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT janemcarlton multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors AT sandraalbert multilevelsocialnetworkapproachtostudyingmultiplediseasepreventionbehaviors |