Determinants Of Social Behavior Research Articles

The Circulation System of Buildings: A Key Determinant of Social Behavior and the Quality of Social and Health Care for People

The Circulation System of Buildings: A Key Determinant of Social Behavior and the Quality of Social and Health Care for People

Factors That Influence Orthopedic Women Residents’ Selection of Adult Reconstruction

BackgroundStereotypes may discourage women from going into the historically male-dominated field of Adult Reconstruction. Other factors such as interest, confidence, and a sense of belonging may influence subspecialty choice. The objective of this study was to survey orthopedic surgery residents regarding their perceptions about Adult Reconstruction. MethodsA validated survey evaluating social determinants of behavior was adapted to assess orthopedic surgery residents’ perceptions of Adult Reconstruction. The survey was electronically distributed to residents from 16 United States and Canadian Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited residency programs. There were 93 respondents including 39 women (42%) and 54 men (58%). Study data were collected and managed using an electronic data capture tool. Descriptive statistics were reported for all continuous variables. Percentiles and sample sizes were reported for categorical variables. ResultsWomen and men reported similar interest in Adult Reconstruction (46% versus 41%, P = .60). Fewer women reported that they were encouraged to go into Adult Reconstruction by faculty (62% versus 85%, P = .001). Women and men reported similar confidence in their own ability to succeed in the subspecialty of Adult Reconstruction. However, when asked about the ability of other residents, both sexes rated men as having higher levels of confidence. Women and men perceived other residents and faculty felt “men are better Adult Reconstruction surgeons,” but did not personally agree with this statement. ConclusionWomen and men residents expressed similar rates of interest and self-confidence in Adult Reconstruction, but there were social barriers including negative stereotypes that may prevent them from pursuing careers in Adult Reconstruction.

Installations for Civic Culture: Behavioral Policy Interventions to Promote Social Sustainability

Achieving more equitable, safer, and resilient societies—crucial dimensions of social sustainability—depends on durable transformations in people’s behavior. Traditional policy interventions attempt to influence people’s behavior in different ways, such as increased policing, fines, or awareness campaigns, but often have limited effects because they fail to systematically address local determinants of behavior. In this paper, we analyze two complex behavioral policy interventions to illustrate how installation theory can provide a framework to systematically analyze and design for large-scale behavioral change to support social sustainability. We focus on two of Antanas Mockus’ iconic “civic culture” interventions to reduce deaths in traffic accidents and domestic violence in Colombia. To study them, we collected intervention reports, citizens’ narratives, creators’ accounts and press articles to identify their main characteristics and behavioral techniques. In our results, we find that the civic culture approach used in these two interventions addresses physical, psychological and social determinants of behavior in ways that reduce reactance and promote mutual regulation and collective agency. By unraveling the essential factors of behavioral influence, installation theory and related frameworks provide a useful guide to structure, analyze and report interventions that address the behavioral components of social sustainability.

The Neural Circuit Architecture of Social Hierarchy in Rodents and Primates.

Social status is recognized as a major determinant of social behavior and health among animals; however, the neural circuits supporting the formation and navigation of social hierarchies remain under extensive research. Available evidence suggests the prefrontal cortex is a keystone in this circuit, but upstream and downstream candidates are progressively emerging. In this review, we compare and integrate findings from rodent and primate studies to create a model of the neural and cellular networks supporting social hierarchies, both from a macro (i.e., circuits) to a micro-scale perspective (microcircuits and synapses). We start by summarizing the literature on the prefrontal cortex and other relevant brain regions to expand the current “prefrontal-centric” view of social hierarchy behaviors. Based on connectivity data we also discuss candidate regions that might inspire further investigation, as well as the caveats and strategies that have been used to further our understanding of the biological substrates underpinning social hierarchy and dominance.

831-P: The Development of a New Computer Adaptive Test of Medication Adherence for People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Medication Adherence Item Bank

Over 27 million Americans have type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), accounting for >7.7 million hospital admissions. Social determinants of behavior, including medication adherence, play a critical role in their health outcomes. We developed a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure to evaluate medication adherence in people with T2DM, using established measurement development standards. An item pool was created that reflected important content related to medication adherence for people with T2DM. The item pool was then refined, using feedback from experts, a reading-level assessment (ensuring no >5th grade reading-level content was included), a translatability review (e.g., to allow future measure translation into Spanish), and feedback from T2DM patients. Next, 225 people with T2DM completed 58 self-report medication adherence items. Exploratory factor analysis supported the item pool’s essential unidimensionality. Five items were excluded due to low item-rest correlations. Confirmatory factor analysis supported retaining 27 items. All items fit the graded response model, and no items had meaningful differential item functioning for the factors age, sex, education, or socioeconomic status. The final item bank is comprised of 27 items and can be administered as a computer adaptive test or 6- item short form. Internal consistency reliability was excellent for all administration formats (α’s all ≥ .90). The new Medication Adherence item bank provides a reliable, content-relevant assessment of medication adherence for people with T2DM. It is part of the comprehensive Re-Engineered Discharge for Diabetes Computer Adaptive Test (REDD-CAT) measurement system, which is designed to capture important social determinants of behavior for people with T2DM. Work is underway to establish additional psychometric properties (e.g., test-retest reliability, validity) of this new measure. Disclosure S. Mitchell: Other Relationship; Self; See Yourself Health LLC, Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. M. A. Kallen: None. A. Bragg: None. I. Moldovan: None. J. M. Howard: None. B. W. Jack: None. J. A. Miner: None. C. M. Graves: None. N. Carlozzi: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R21DK121092)

830-P: The Development of a New Computer Adaptive Test of Illness Burden for Use in People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM)

In recent years, a growing body of research has established that social determinants of health influence the health outcomes of patients, especially those with T2DM. We developed a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure of an important social determinant of behavior that is specific to persons with T2DM: illness burden. Qualitative and quantitative methods informed the development of this new PRO. A literature review and semi-structured key informant interviews guided the establishment of an initial item pool. Expert and patient review, reading level assessment (to ensure no item had >5th grade reading-level language), and a translatability review were all used to refine the original item pool to 47 items. The refined item pool was then tested in 225 patients with T2DM. No items had sparse response option cells or problems with monotonicity; two items were deleted due to low item-rest correlations. Factor analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) supported the retention of 29 items. With those 29 remaining items, a constrained (common slope) graded response model (GRM) fit assessment indicated that two items had misfit and were excluded. No items displayed differential item functioning by age, sex, education, or socio-economic status. Thus, the final item bank is comprised of 27 items. Psychometric considerations (based on item information values) were used, in conjunction with expert content review, to select a 6-item static short form. IRT-based item parameters were employed to make this new measure available as a computer adaptive test. Internal consistency of the new PRO was excellent (α ≥ .90 for all administration formats). The new Illness Burden item bank captures patients’ perceptions of the impact that having T2DM has on their daily lives. It can be used in conjunction with the broader measurement system, the Re-Engineered Discharge for Diabetes Computer Adaptive Test, to evaluate important social determinants of behavior in persons with T2DM. Disclosure S. Mitchell: Other Relationship; Self; See Yourself Health LLC, Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. M. A. Kallen: None. A. Bragg: None. I. Moldovan: None. J. M. Howard: None. B. W. Jack: None. J. A. Miner: None. C. M. Graves: None. N. Carlozzi: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (1R21DK121092)

Investigating autism associated genes in C. elegans reveals candidates with a role in social behaviour.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by a triad of behavioural impairments and includes disruption in social behaviour. ASD has a clear genetic underpinning and hundreds of genes are implicated in its aetiology. However, how single penetrant genes disrupt activity of neural circuits which lead to affected behaviours is only beginning to be understood and less is known about how low penetrant genes interact to disrupt emergent behaviours. Investigations are well served by experimental approaches that allow tractable investigation of the underpinning genetic basis of circuits that control behaviours that operate in the biological domains that are neuro-atypical in autism. The model organism C. elegans provides an experimental platform to investigate the effect of genetic mutations on behavioural outputs including those that impact social biology. Here we use progeny-derived social cues that modulate C. elegans food leaving to assay genetic determinants of social behaviour. We used the SAFRI Gene database to identify C. elegans orthologues of human ASD associated genes. We identified a number of mutants that displayed selective deficits in response to progeny. The genetic determinants of this complex social behaviour highlight the important contribution of synaptopathy and implicates genes within cell signalling, epigenetics and phospholipid metabolism functional domains. The approach overlaps with a growing number of studies that investigate potential molecular determinants of autism in C. elegans. However, our use of a complex, sensory integrative, emergent behaviour provides routes to enrich new or underexplored biology with the identification of novel candidate genes with a definable role in social behaviour.

Social withdrawal and gender differences: Clinical phenotypes and biological bases.

Evidence from everyday life suggests that differences in social behaviors between males and females exist, both in animal and in humans. These differences can be related to socio-cultural determinants, but also to specialized portions of the brain (the social brain), from the neurotransmitter to the neural network level. The high vulnerability of this system is expressed by the wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders associated with social dysfunctions, particularly social withdrawal. The principal psychiatric disorders with prominent social withdrawal are described, including hikikomori-like syndromes, and anxiety, depressive, autistic, schizophrenic, and personality disorders. It is hypothesized that social withdrawal can be partially independent from other symptoms and likely reflect alterations in the social brain itself, leading to a similar, transdiagnostic social dysfunction, reflecting defects in the social brain across a variety of psychopathological conditions. An overview is provided of gender effects in the biological determinants of social behavior, including: the anatomical structures of the social brain; the dimorphic brain structures, and the modulation of their development by sex steroids; gender differences in "social" neurotransmitters (vasopressin and oxytocin), and in their response to social stress. A better comprehension of gender differences in the phenotypes of social disorders and in the neural bases of social behaviors may provide new insights for timely, focused, innovative, and gender-specific treatments.

ЦІННІСНІ ОРІЄНТАЦІЇ МАЙБУТНЬОГО ВИКЛАДАЧА ЗАКЛАДУ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ

У статті обґрунтовано актуальність проблеми ціннісних орієнтацій майбутнього викладача закладу вищої освіти. Визначено сутність понять «цінності» та «ціннісні орієнтації». З’ясовано, що цінності складають основу ціннісних орієнтацій індивіда. У науковій літературі розрізняють матеріальні, суспільно-політичні, духовні цінності; позитивні і негативні цінності; цінності особистості, соціальних та професійних груп, національні, загальнолюдські цінності. Серед цінностей людського буття і культури при всьому розмаїтті найчастіше виділяють лише декілька, як правило, основних: людина, життя, добро, краса, істина, свобода тощо. Розкрито психолого-педагогічний аспект ціннісних орієнтацій. У публікації наголошується на тому, що дослідження передбачає лише вивчення змісту ціннісних орієнтацій майбутнього викладача закладу вищої освіти, але не виключається можливість змін у системі ціннісних орієнтацій майбутнього викладача під впливом організованого нами процесу формування та розвитку полікультурної компетентності.Описано методику визначення рівня ціннісних орієнтацій. Для цього використано методику «Ціннісні орієнтації» Мілтона Рокича (Milton Rokeach), який розрізняє два класи цінностей: термінальні та інструментальні. Здійснений якісний і кількісний аналіз системи ціннісних орієнтацій майбутнього викладача до та після реалізації чотирьох етапів формування полікультурної компетентності засвідчив ефективність розробленого та запропонованого нами змісту полікультурної освіти.

Transitional care planning: A pilot study to explore patient, hospital, and primary care perspectives

The care plan aims to align key stakeholders via the exchange of meaningful, timely, and actionable patient care information during transitions of care. This exploratory study used a qualitative approach that includes field observations and semi-structured interviews to further understand the barriers and current process of care planning. A thematic analysis identified clinician strategies in addition to barriers at system, care-team, and patient levels. Specific themes included limited time and resources to establish value-based care, inconsistent/vague role definitions across settings, disconnections in care team communication, inconsistent care planning definitions and goals, patients’ lack of knowledge of care planning, and social behavioral determinants that prevent patients from engaging in their care planning. Further research is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of these barriers and clinician strategies to support a clearer definition of the care planning process.

An evidence-based strategy to achieve equivalency and interoperability for social-behavioral determinants of health assessment, storage, exchange, and use.

The interoperable exchange of social-behavioral determinants of health data is challenging due to complex factors including multiple recommendations, multiple tools with varying domains, scoring, and cutpoints, and lack of terminology code sets for storing assessments and findings. This article describes a strategy that permits scoring by social-behavioral determinants of health domain to create interoperability and equivalency across tools, settings, and populations. The three-tier scoring strategy converts social-behavioral determinants of health data to (1) be used immediately at point of care by identifying social needs or social risk factors, (2) be consumed within analytics and algorithms and for secondary analysis, and (3) produce total scores that reflect social determinant burden and behavioral determinant burden across populations and settings within a healthcare system. The strategy supports the six uses recommended by the National Academy of Medicine, provides flexibility in choice of social-behavioral determinants of health tool, and leverages the power of social-behavioral determinants of health data in healthcare delivery.

Análisis del mundo asociativo «en primera persona» en salud mental en Cataluña

Las respuestas a las problemáticas relacionadas con el ámbito de la salud mental se han centrado en la creencia de que la diversidad era un hecho individual de cada persona, responsabilizando al individuo de su voluntad de cambio, olvidando las condicionantes sociales de este hecho. En contraposición, en Europa se han creado diferentes movimientos fomentados por personas usuarias y ex-usuarias de los servicios de la red de salud mental que reivindican una serie de derechos, de soluciones y de propuestas alternativas a las institucionales. El presente artículo se basa en la primera parte de la tesis doctoral, que se centra en el estudio del papel de Trabajo Social como facilitador de los procesos de empoderamiento de las personas diagnosticadas con un trastorno mental. La intención es la aproximación al mundo asociativo «en primera persona» y el papel que ha obtenido en el momento actual en Cataluña. Para ello se cuenta con la opinión de nueve personas vinculadas a las nueve asociaciones que forman la Federació Veus. La metodología escogida es de carácter cualitativo, siendo dos las herramientas para la recogida de datos: la observación y la entrevista en profundidad. El análisis de los datos extraídos permitió concluir que las redes relacionales y el trabajo comunitario ayudan en la mejora de la calidad de vida de las personas usuarias de las asociaciones «en primera persona», mediante la paliación de los estigmas y las desigualdades que se pueden generar en torno a un diagnóstico.

Multiple animal positioning system shows that socially-reared mice influence the social proximity of isolation-reared cagemates

Social relationships are a key determinant of social behaviour, and disruption of social behaviour is a major symptom of several psychiatric disorders. However, few studies have analysed social relationships among multiple individuals in a group or how social relationships within a group influence the behaviour of members with impaired socialisation. Here, we developed a video-analysis-based system, the Multiple-Animal Positioning System (MAPS), to automatically and separately analyse the social behaviour of multiple individuals in group housing. Using MAPS, we show that social isolation of male mice during adolescence leads to impaired social proximity in adulthood. The phenotype of these socially isolated mice was partially rescued by cohabitation with group-housed (socially-reared) mice, indicating that both individual behavioural traits and those of cagemates influence social proximity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that low reactive behaviour of other cagemates also influence individual social proximity in male mice.

Costs and benefits of group living in primates: an energetic perspective.

Group size is a fundamental component of sociality, and has important consequences for an individual's fitness as well as the collective and cooperative behaviours of the group as a whole. This review focuses on how the costs and benefits of group living vary in female primates as a function of group size, with a particular emphasis on how competition within and between groups affects an individual's energetic balance. Because the repercussions of chronic energetic stress can lower an animal's fitness, identifying the predictors of energetic stress has important implications for understanding variation in survivorship and reproductive success within and between populations. Notably, we extend previous literature on this topic by discussing three physiological measures of energetic balance-glucocorticoids, c-peptides and thyroid hormones. Because these hormones can provide clear signals of metabolic states and processes, they present an important complement to field studies of spatial and temporal changes in food availability. We anticipate that their further application will play a crucial role in elucidating the adaptive significance of group size in different social and ecological contexts.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

Boldness traits, not dominance, predict exploratory flight range and homing behaviour in homing pigeons

Group living has been proposed to yield benefits that enhance fitness above the level that would be achieved through living as solitary individuals. Dominance hierarchies occur commonly in these social assemblages, and result, by definition, in resources not being evenly distributed between group members. Determinants of rank within a dominance hierarchy can be associated with morphological characteristics, previous experience of the individual, or personality traits such as exploration tendencies. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether greater exploration and positive responses to novel objects in homing pigeons (Columba livia) measured under laboratory conditions were associated with (i) greater initial exploration of the local area around the home loft during spontaneous exploration flights (SEF), (ii) faster and more efficient homing flights when released from further afield, and (iii) whether the traits of greater exploration and more positive responses to novel objects were more likely to be exhibited by the more dominant individuals within the group. There was no relationship between laboratory-based novel object exploration and position within the dominance hierarchy. Pigeons that were neophobic under laboratory conditions did not explore the local area during SEF opportunities. When released from sites further from home, neophobic pigeons took longer routes to home compared to those birds that had not exhibited neophobic traits under laboratory conditions, and had spontaneously explored to a greater extent. The lack of exploration in the neophobic birds is likely to have resulted in the increased costs of homing following release: unfamiliarity with the landscape likely led to the greater distances travelled and less efficient routes taken. Birds that demonstrated a lack of neophobia were not the dominant individuals inside the loft, and thus would have less access to resources such as food and potentially mates. However, a lack of neophobia makes the subordinate position possible, because subordinate birds that incur high travel costs would become calorie restricted and lose condition. Our results address emerging questions linking individual variation in behaviour with energetics and fitness consequences.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

Collective foraging in spatially complex nutritional environments.

Nutrition impinges on virtually all aspects of an animal's life, including social interactions. Recent advances in nutritional ecology show how social animals often trade-off individual nutrition and group cohesion when foraging in simplified experimental environments. Here, we explore how the spatial structure of the nutritional landscape influences these complex collective foraging dynamics in ecologically realistic environments. We introduce an individual-based model integrating key concepts of nutritional geometry, collective animal behaviour and spatial ecology to study the nutritional behaviour of animal groups in large heterogeneous environments containing foods with different abundance, patchiness and nutritional composition. Simulations show that the spatial distribution of foods constrains the ability of individuals to balance their nutrient intake, the lowest performance being attained in environments with small isolated patches of nutritionally complementary foods. Social interactions improve individual regulatory performances when food is scarce and clumpy, but not when it is abundant and scattered, suggesting that collective foraging is favoured in some environments only. These social effects are further amplified if foragers adopt flexible search strategies based on their individual nutritional state. Our model provides a conceptual and predictive framework for developing new empirically testable hypotheses in the emerging field of social nutrition.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

The role of physiological traits in assortment among and within fish shoals.

Individuals of gregarious species often group with conspecifics to which they are phenotypically similar. This among-group assortment has been studied for body size, sex and relatedness. However, the role of physiological traits has been largely overlooked. Here, we discuss mechanisms by which physiological traits—particularly those related to metabolism and locomotor performance—may result in phenotypic assortment not only among but also within animal groups. At the among-group level, varying combinations of passive assortment, active assortment, phenotypic plasticity and selective mortality may generate phenotypic differences among groups. Even within groups, however, individual variation in energy requirements, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, neurological lateralization and tolerance to environmental stressors are likely to produce differences in the spatial location of individuals or associations between group-mates with specific physiological phenotypes. Owing to the greater availability of empirical research, we focus on groups of fishes (i.e. shoals and schools). Increased knowledge of physiological mechanisms influencing among- and within-group assortment will enhance our understanding of fundamental concepts regarding optimal group size, predator avoidance, group cohesion, information transfer, life-history strategies and the evolutionary effects of group membership. In a broader perspective, predicting animal responses to environmental change will be impossible without a comprehensive understanding of the physiological basis of the formation and functioning of animal social groups.This article is part of the themed issue ‘Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals’.

Developmental stress and social phenotypes: integrating neuroendocrine, behavioural and evolutionary perspectives.

The social world is filled with different types of interactions, and social experience interacts with stress on several different levels. Activation of the neuroendocrine axis that regulates the response to stress can have consequences for innumerable behavioural responses, including social decision-making and aspects of sociality, such as gregariousness and aggression. This is especially true for stress experienced during early life, when physiological systems are developing and highly sensitive to perturbation. Stress at this time can have persistent effects on social behaviours into adulthood. One important question remaining is to what extent these effects are adaptive. This paper initially reviews the current literature investigating the complex relationships between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and other neuroendocrine systems and several aspects of social behaviour in vertebrates. In addition, the review explores the evidence surrounding the potential for 'social programming' via differential development and activation of the HPA axis, providing an insight into the potential for positive effects on fitness following early life stress. Finally, the paper provides a framework from which novel investigations could work to fully understand the adaptive significance of early life effects on social behaviours.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

Physiology modulates social flexibility and collective behaviour in equids and other large ungulates.

Though morphologically very similar, equids across the extant species occupy ecological niches that are surprisingly non-overlapping. Occupancy of these distinct niches appears related to subtle physiological and behavioural adaptations which, in turn, correspond to significant differences in the social behaviours and emergent social systems characterizing the different species. Although instances of intraspecific behavioural variation in equids demonstrate that the same body plan can support a range of social structures, each of these morphologically similar species generally shows robust fidelity to its evolved social system. The pattern suggests a subtle relationship between physiological phenotypes and behavioural flexibility. While environmental conditions can vary widely within relatively short temporal or spatial scales, physiological changes and changes to the behaviours that regulate physiological processes, are constrained to longer cycles of adaptation. Physiology is then the limiting variable in the interaction between ecological variation and behavioural and socio-structural flexibility. Behavioural and socio-structural flexibility, in turn, will generate important feedbacks that will govern physiological function, thus creating a coupled web of interactions that can lead to changes in individual and collective behaviour. Longitudinal studies of equid and other large-bodied ungulate populations under environmental stress, such as those discussed here, may offer the best opportunities for researchers to examine, in real time, the interplay between individual behavioural plasticity, socio-structural flexibility, and the physiological and genetic changes that together produce adaptive change.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

Physiological mechanisms underlying animal social behaviour.

Many species of animal live in groups, and the group represents the organizational level within which ecological and evolutionary processes occur. Understanding these processes, therefore, relies on knowledge of the mechanisms that permit or constrain group formation. We suggest that physiological capacities and differences in physiology between individuals modify fission-fusion dynamics. Differences between individuals in locomotor capacity and metabolism may lead to fission of groups and sorting of individuals into groups with similar physiological phenotypes. Environmental impacts such as hypoxia can influence maximum group sizes and structure in fish schools by altering access to oxygenated water. The nutritional environment determines group cohesion, and the increase in information collected by the group means that individuals should rely more on social information and form more cohesive groups in uncertain environments. Changing environmental contexts require rapid responses by individuals to maintain group coordination, which are mediated by neuroendocrine signalling systems such as nonapeptides and steroid hormones. Brain processing capacity may constrain social complexity by limiting information processing. Failure to evaluate socially relevant information correctly limits social interactions, which is seen, for example, in autism. Hence, functioning of a group relies to a large extent on the perception and appropriate processing of signals from conspecifics. Many if not all physiological systems are mechanistically linked, and therefore have synergistic effects on social behaviour. A challenge for the future lies in understanding these interactive effects, which will improve understanding of group dynamics, particularly in changing environments.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.