Dynamic Analysis of Social Networks of Learners’ Online Peers1 Interaction Behavior in Smoking Cession Education

Abstract

Objectives: We investigated the dynamic changes in the impact of online peer support on individual behavior, using the online smoking cessation community as an example. Methods: This study included a longitudinal sample of 52 adolescents (aged 17-21) who volunteered to quit smoking in an online smoking cessation community. We described an actor-based model for online friendship network-smoking cessation behavior co-evolution, using social network dynamic analysis to study the interaction between learners to explore the impact of online peer support on adolescent smoking cessation behavior. Results: Three RSiena models exhibited high goodness of fit in the structural effect part (The estimated values of the three reciprocity effect parameters were 1.7067, 1.07384, and 1.07401, respectively). The estimated value of the in-degree effect parameter of smoking cessation behavior influenced by network structure was 0.0934. Conclusions: Online peer support has a significant impact on the propensity for adolescents to select offline friends. The more online peers’ support, the better results of teenagers online smoking cessation. Online peer support significantly affects the changes in individual behaviors.