Personal Networks Research Articles

Personal Social Networks of Women with Justice-Involvement in Substance Use Treatment

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a key common correlate of criminal offending among women, yet few studies have explored their personal network characteristics, limiting our understanding of the social context in which justice-involved women with SUD are embedded. The present study interviewed 375 women with SUD, including 299 (80%) women with a history of justice involvement, from three county-funded, women-only intensive treatment programs in the Midwest United States. No difference was observed in multiple personal social network indicators including composition, relationship quality, support availability, and structure, suggesting that these two populations may be more similar than they are distinct.

Awareness of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes Among Women Attending Primary Healthcare Centers in Qassim, Saudi Arabia.

Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), diagnosed during pregnancy, can harm both mothers and neonates. GDM awareness among women varies among various countries. Understanding the level of awareness is vital for designing effective health interventions. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate GDM awareness among married females at primary healthcare centers (PHCCs) in Qassim, Saudi Arabia, focusing on knowledge regarding adverse maternal and fetal outcomes of GDM. Methods An observational cross-sectional study was conducted among married females at PHCCs in Qassim, from June 2023 to October 2023. A two-stage cluster sampling method was used. Four PHCCs were selected in the first stage, and study participants were selected from these centers in the second stage. A self-administered questionnaire was used. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS, version 23;IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Armonk, NY) was used for statistical analysis. Results Of the 270 participants, the majority (72.2%) demonstrated 'poor' knowledge about GDM adverse outcomes for both mothers and neonates, 17.8% demonstrated a 'fair' level, and only 10% displayed a 'good' knowledge. Participants' educational level, personal history of diabetes, and age were associated with knowledge levels. Awareness of specific outcomes related to GDM, both maternal and neonatal, varied among participants. Information on GDM was mainly obtained from mass media and personal networks, while healthcare providers were reported as the least common source. Conclusion Based on the results of our study, weconclude that educational interventions, especially involving healthcare providers, are essential to improve awareness about GDM adverse outcomes. Strategies involving educational sessions by healthcare providers and health education materials at PHCCs can improve awareness leading to effective management of GDM and improved maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Best Practices for Managing Patients with Unresectable Metastatic Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer in Canada.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common types of cancer and is associated with relatively low survival rates. Despite its considerable burden, there is limited guidance for Canadian clinicians on the management of unresectable metastatic GC and gastroesophageal junction cancer (GEJC). Therefore, we aimed to discuss best practices and provide expert recommendations for patient management within the current Canadian unresectable GC and GEJC landscape. A multidisciplinary group of Canadian healthcare practitioners was assembled to develop expert recommendations via a working group. The often-rapid progression of unresectable GC and GEJC and the associated malnutrition have a significant impact on the patient's quality of life and ability to tolerate treatment. Hence, recommendations include early diagnosis, identification of relevant biomarkers to improve personalized treatment, and relevant support to manage comorbidities. A multidisciplinary approach including early access to registered dietitians, personal support networks, and palliative care services, is needed to optimize possible outcomes for patients. Where possible, patients with unresectable GC and GEJC would benefit from access to clinical trials and innovative treatments.

Social Capital and Cross-Border Venture Capital Investments in China

In the context of the Chinese market, foreign cross-border venture capitalists have devised specific strategies to mitigate the challenges associated with the liabilities of foreignness, such as risks and information asymmetry. They have strategically leveraged social capital to not only decrease investment risk but also to influence their investment preferences and behaviors. To investigate the influence of different types of social capital on the investment decisions of cross-border venture capitalists, hypotheses are proposed and tested using regression analysis. Our research reveals several key findings in this regard. Firstly, cross-border venture capitalists with a robust structural social capital network exhibit a greater propensity to invest in early-stage companies. This suggests that well-established connections and partnerships within the Chinese entrepreneurial ecosystem provide a level of comfort and confidence when investing in ventures at their infancy. Interestingly, relational and cognitive social capital, though undoubtedly valuable, do not significantly impact the decision to make early-stage investments. Furthermore, we have observed that venture capitalists with higher levels of structural and cognitive social capital are more inclined to form syndications. Collaborative partnerships and shared knowledge networks seem to be crucial factors that drive syndication decisions. Lastly, venture capitalists endowed with substantial structural and relational social capital tend to allocate larger investment amounts, signifying the influence of business or personal relationships and network connections on the scale of their investments.

Perinatal women in substance use disorder treatment: Interest in partnering with family and friends to support recovery needs

Background Perinatal women treated for substance use disorder (SUD) face considerable barriers to recovery that might be ameliorated through activation of community support. Objectives This descriptive study evaluated the presence of drug-free family and friends in the social networks of perinatal women treated for SUD. It also assessed the interest of these women to partner with network members to mobilize support across several recovery needs. Methods Social network interviews were conducted with 40 pre- and post-partum women treated at the Center for Addiction and Pregnancy (CAP) in Baltimore, Maryland. These interviews also prompted participants to consider which network members to invite to the program to support recovery efforts. Results Study participants reported that their personal social networks included 4.4 drug-free adults. An overwhelming majority (80%) of participants reported a willingness to invite at least one person to the CAP program. Participants also endorsed several opportunities for collaboration between the program and community support. Conclusions These findings suggest that treatment program guided activation of network support offers a testable strategy to help perinatal women reduce barriers to recovery and improve treatment outcomes.

Evaluation of the Limitation of Operational Parameters of the IEEE 802.11 ac Network in the 20MHz Channel

IEEE 802.11 wireless network technologies are widely used to create corporate and personal local networks for data exchange and access to Internet resources. The main principle of operation of IEEE 802.11 networks is the principle of competitive access, according to which all wireless network users have the same access rights to the information transmission environment. This method of access leads to the occurrence of collisions in networks with a large number of users, which complicates the process of network functioning and leads to the degradation of quality indicators. The purpose of the study is to estimate the limit values of the operational characteristics of the IEEE 802.11 ac wireless network in the mode with the highest transmission rate (MCS8) in a frequency channel of 20 MHz with one spatial stream, provided that the network has a significant number of active stations with a saturated load. An alternative model of processes in IEEE 802.11 networks based on the concept of a virtual competitive window is used for research. According to the concept of virtual contention window (VCW), the process of data transmission in a network with competitive access is considered as a quasi-stationary process. Numerical data were obtained and graphs of channel bandwidth, transmission delay, and delay non-uniformity were given in the presence of one to sixteen active stations with a saturated load in the network, in the case of transmission of frames with a data volume of 512 or 1500 bytes. The maximum possible bandwidth of the channel with a frequency band of 20 MHz (68.387 bit/s) was determined, in the case of using frames with the maximum load (11454 bytes) provided by the standard. Estimated data on the number of collisions occurring in a network with a saturated load and the number of frames transmitted at various stages of channel access are also provided. The frame transmission delay increases almost proportionally to the number of active stations and varies from 0.605 ms to 5.293 ms, in the case of loading all data frames of 512 bytes, and from 0.785 to 6.41 ms, in the case of a load of 1500 bytes, for changes in the number of active stations in the network from 2 to 16. The unevenness of the delay exceeds the average delay and grows non-linearly, in the case of an increase in the number of active stations from 1 to 6 (CWmin=15), and linearly — with a further increase in the number of stations (over 6). The obtained results are useful for reasonable planning of wireless networks and configuration of network equipment parameters.

A neural network paradigm for modeling psychometric data and estimating IRT model parameters: Cross estimation network.

This paper presents a novel approach known as the cross estimation network (CEN) for fitting the datasets obtained from psychological or educational tests and estimating the parameters of item response theory (IRT) models. The CEN is comprised of two subnetworks: the person network (PN) and the item network (IN). The PN processes the response pattern of individual respondent and generates an estimate of the underlying ability, while the IN takes in the response pattern of individual item and outputs the estimates of the item parameters. Four simulation studies and an empirical study were comprehensively and rigorously conducted to investigate the performance of CEN on parameter estimation of the two-parameter logistic model under various testing scenarios. Results showed that CEN effectively fit the training data and produced accurate estimates of both person and item parameters. The trained PN and IN adhered to AI principles and acted as intelligent agents, delivering commendable evaluations for even unseen patterns of new respondents and items.

“Dime con Quién Andas y te Diré Qué Piensas Sobre el Español de los US”: Language Attitudes and Motivation to Learn Spanish as a Heritage Language through the Lens of Social Networks

This study explores the motivation and attitudes of heritage speakers (HSs) of Spanish, focusing on the influence of their social networks. Previous research highlighted variations in HS motivation, attributed to social, cultural, and contextual factors. The study investigates how HS communities shape motivation and attitudes towards learning the heritage language (HL). Employing personal network analysis, the research surveyed 26 Spanish HSs in a Spanish heritage language program. Results revealed that HS networks primarily consisted of emotionally close family members. Positive and negative factors within these networks, such as language support, confidence, shame, and expectations, significantly influenced HS motivation and attitudes. Language attitudes within the network positively impacted individual attitudes, indicating a process of internalizing shared values. The study emphasizes the importance of considering the context surrounding HSs and suggests that addressing language expectations and fostering language support in communities may positively transform perceptions of Spanish in the United States. The findings underscore the effectiveness of a personal network approach in recreating the external environment beyond the language classroom.

Religiosity and gender bias structure social networks.

The number of studies examining gender differences in the social relationship rewards associated with costly religious practice has been surprisingly low. Here, we use data from 289 residents of an agricultural Tibetan village to assess whether individuals are more inclined to establish supportive relationships with religious individuals in general and to investigate the gender disparities in the relationship between religiosity and personal network characteristics. Our results reveal that participation in religious rituals contributes to the overall development of social support networks. The benefits to personal networks, however, seem to be contingent upon gender. For resource-intensive, infrequent religious rituals such as distant pilgrimages, males seem to benefit slightly more in terms of elevated in-degree values in their personal networks, despite similar levels of investment as females. In contrast, for daily, low-cost religious practices requiring ongoing participation, both genders obtain similar increases in in-degree values through regular engagement. It becomes more challenging for women to increase their status in communities when the effort invested in religious rituals yields smaller rewards compared with the same effort by men, contributing to ongoing gender inequality. These findings highlight the importance of examining the particular characteristics of religious rituals and the gender disparities in the associated rewards.

The ‘New Catholicity’ of Fascism

Abstract This article highlights the intellectual trajectory of the Spanish writer Ernesto Gimenez Caballero (1899–1988) as mediator of fascist internationalism during the 1930s. Caballero, a writer and journalists, was known in Italy thanks to important friendships with leading intellectual, diplomatic and political figures of the Fascist regime. His theory of fascist universalism, presented at the Volta Conference of 1932, identified fascism as the true, unifying principle of Europe. He regarded fascism as ‘the new Catholicity’ of Europe. Inspired by ‘the thaumaturgic genius’ of Mussolini, Caballero pointed out that the center of this new Europe was Rome, which he considered had been reborn with the glories of the ancient times after a long period of uncertainty. The article will explore the key features of Caballero’s idea and their origins within his intellectual biography, stressing the role of personal and transnational networking in the construction of his vision.

Social networks of people with serious mental illness who smoke: potential role in a smoking cessation intervention.

Smoking is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality among individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and social networks may play an important role in smoking behaviors. Our objectives were to (1) describe the network characteristics of adults with SMI who smoke tobacco (2) explore whether network attributes were associated with nicotine dependence. We performed a secondary analysis of baseline data from a tobacco smoking cessation intervention trial among 192 participants with SMI. A subgroup (n = 75) completed questions on the characteristics of their social network members. The network characteristics included network composition (e.g. proportion who smoke) and network structure (e.g. density of connections between members). We used multilevel models to examine associations with nicotine dependence. Participant characteristics included: a mean age 50 years, 49% women, 48% Black, and 41% primary diagnosis of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. The median personal network proportion of active smokers was 22%, active quitters 0%, and non-smokers 53%. The density of ties between actively smoking network members was greater than between non-smoking members (55% vs 43%, p = .02). Proportion of network smokers was not associated with nicotine dependence. We identified potential social network challenges and assets to smoking cessation and implications for network interventions among individuals with SMI.

Capturing the Social Life of a Person by Integrating Experience-Sampling Methodology and Personal-Social-Network Assessments

The daily social life of a person can be captured with different methodologies. Two methods that are especially promising are personal-social-network (PSN) data collection and experience-sampling methodology (ESM). Whereas PSN data collections ask participants to provide information on their social relationships and broader social environment, ESM studies collect intensive longitudinal data on social interactions in daily life using multiple short surveys per day. In combination, the two methods enable detailed insights into someone’s social life, including information on interactions with specific interaction partners from the personal network. Despite many potential uses of such data integration, there are few studies to date using the two methods in conjunction. This is likely due to their complexity and lack of software that allows capturing the full social life of someone while keeping the burden for participants and researchers sufficiently low. In this article, we report on the development of methodology and software for an ESM/PSN integration within the established ESM tool m-Path. We describe results of a first study using the developed tool that illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method combination and show that participants consider the assessments insightful. We further outline study-design choices and ethical considerations when combining the two methodologies. We hope to encourage applications of the presented methods in research and practice across different fields.

Stability in social networks.

Dunbar's number is the cognitive limit of human beings to maintain stable relationships with other individuals in their social networks, and it is found to be 150. It is based on the neocortex size of humans. Usually, Dunbar's number and related phenomena are studied from the perspective of an individual. Dunbar's number also plays a crucial role in evolutionary psychology and allied areas. However, no study done so far has considered a couple who are in a stable relationship as a system from the perspective of Dunbar's number and its hierarchy layers. In this paper, we study the impact of Dunbar's number and Dunbar's hierarchy from the perspective of a couple by studying mathematically the conjoint Dunbar graphs for a couple. The cost of romance is the loss of almost two people from one's support network when a human being enters into a new relationship. Thus, we obtain mathematically that there is no significant change in one's friendship if human beings spend negligible time with their partners. Also, along with marriage and friendship development, we attempt to assess how a person's social network structure holds up over the course of a romantic relationship. The stability of personal social networks is discussed through soft set theory and balance theoretic approach.

Social microclimates and well-being.

Emotional well-being has a known relationship with a person's direct social ties, including friendships; but do ambient social and emotional features of the local community also play a role? This work takes advantage of university students' assignment to different local networks-or "social microclimates"-to probe this question. Using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression, we quantify the collective impact of individual, social network, and microclimate factors on the emotional well-being of a cohort of first-year college students. Results indicate that well-being tracks individual factors but also myriad social and microclimate factors, reflecting one's peers and social surroundings. Students who belonged to emotionally stable and tight-knit microclimates (i.e., had emotionally stable friends or resided in densely connected residence halls) reported lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of life satisfaction, even when controlling for factors such as personality and social network size. Although rarely discussed or acknowledged in the policies that create them, social microclimates are consequential to well-being, especially during life transitions. The effects of microclimate factors are small relative to some individual factors; however, they explain unique variance in well-being that is not directly captured by emotional stability or other individual factors. These findings are novel, but preliminary, and should be replicated in new samples and contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

IJCM_184A: A Study on Impact of Addiction to Social Networking Sites on Psychological Well Being of Undergraduate Medical Students of GMC, Siddipet

Background: India is the third largest country to use social networking sites. A social networking site is a website where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him/her to other users. Social networking sites are increasingly affecting the psychological health of teenagers and young adults and so found that addiction to online social networking sites has several psychiatric disorders, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Objectives: To find out the addiction to social networking sites and assess the psychological well-being of undergraduate medical students of GMC, Siddipet Methodology: A cross-sectional study is being conducted in the Government medical college, Siddipet for two months among undergraduate medical students by universal sampling. The self-administered, pre-validated questionnaire, using Ryff’s scale and Bergan scale, for psychological well- being and social networking site addiction respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done in SPSS using appropriate statistical analysis. Results: A total of 806 students of various years of MBBS participated in the study, Males were 301 and females were 505 Among them, out of the total 806 students studied, the psychological well-being was found to be low in 6(0.74%) and moderate in 597(74.07%). In the present study, out of the total 806 medical students studied, 148(18.36%) were found to have social networking site addiction, out of which males were 52(35.13%) and females were 96(64.86%). Out of 148 medical students who were found to have social networking site addiction, psychological well-being was found to be low in 4(2.70%) and moderate in 111(75%) and the p value was found to be statistically significant at 0.007. When the psychological well-being was compared in students between those who had social networking site addiction and those who didn’t had social networking site addiction, psychological well-being was comparatively less (0.74% vs 2.70% in Low psychological well-being and (75% vs 74.07%) and the difference was found to be statistically significant (p value = 0.007). Conclusion: A significant percentage of medical students (18.36%) were found to have addiction to social networking sites in our study because of the widespread availability of gadgets. Psychological well-being was found to be comparatively less in students who had social networking site addiction compared to those who didn’t had the addiction.

Learning motivation and self-assessment in health economics: a survey on overconfidence in healthcare providers

IntroductionLifelong learning is the foundation for professionals to maintain competence and proficiency in several aspects of economy and medicine. Until now, there is no evidence of overconfidence (the belief to...

From Campus to Crisis: Psychological Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Indian Management Students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected students pursuing higher education, but limited studies highlight student's psychological experiences, especially from Western India. The present study aimed to understand psychological experiences, coping behaviors, and the perceived role of tele-counseling services among final-year students of Masters of Business Administration from leading business schools (B-schools) in Western India. A qualitative research design was adopted for the study. A semi-structured interview guide was utilized to conduct in-depth interviews with 35 students. Students were reached via personal networks and social media, and data was gathered after the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis technique was employed to analyze the data. The findings showed that management students had upsetting psychological experiences. Key stressors that emerged in the study were job concerns, lifestyle changes, concerns about their own and parents' health and safety, uncertainty about the future, and social isolation. They expressed the need for mental health help; however, they were reluctant to utilize tele-counseling services. The authors present an integrated psychological well-being model for promoting positive mental health among students in higher education institutions. The study explains the psychological toll on management students. Enhancing mental health literacy through awareness sessions and other innovative means would be critical to addressing myths around mental health and mental healthcare-seeking behavior in higher education institutions. An integrated approach to promoting positive mental health and well-being is needed.

Unveiling Entrepreneurial Learning Dynamics: Insights from the Women Entrepreneurs of Creative Industries

Purpose –This research aims to explore social learning aspects of entrepreneurial learning within the creative industries. The creative industries produce customised products, where creative entrepreneurs co-create goods according to the customer’s preferences. The entrepreneurial learning literature includes empirical and theoretical studies from different industry sectors. However, little attention is evident in the entrepreneurship research from the creative industries. The limited literature on entrepreneurial learning in the creative industries indicates that creative industries entrepreneurs rarely pursue formal education to enhance their skills and knowledge. Instead, their business learning is deeply rooted in the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the real world in which they are situated. These brief findings demand an in-depth exploration of entrepreneurial learning processes and sources within the creative industries context. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical study is based on qualitative research, employing in-depth case studies of creative industries entrepreneurs. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs who work as designers in the creative industries. To analyze the data, a cross-case comparison was conducted, along with the use of grounded theory techniques. Findings – The findings highlight that entrepreneurial learning is a dynamic process where the interaction of personal and social experiences of entrepreneurs during their entrepreneurial journey is of utmost importance. This learning process involves activities such as observing, practices, doing, trial and error, and constant interaction with the entrepreneurial community. Furthermore, understanding the learning process relies largely on the contextual environment. Creative industries’ entrepreneurs employ the variety of sources for learning, out of which personal networks (family, friends, etc.) and technological resources (internet, software) are vital. Social media also plays a significant role in their learning process, as it serves as a valuable source of information and learning. Implications – The study improves our understanding of how women entrepreneurs engage in entrepreneurial learning within a specific industry and social context. Furthermore, the research identifies the challenges that are critical to address through entrepreneurship education and support organizations – that cater to community entrepreneurs. Originality/value – The literature has acknowledged the strong influence of cultural and social context on women entrepreneurs, particularly in developing countries. This research contributes to the limited body of knowledge on entrepreneurial learning among women creative entrepreneurs by exploring the interplay between personal and social learning experiences along with multiple contextual forces.

A personal social knowledge network (PSKN) facilitates learners’ wayfinding and its differences in behavior patterns between high and low performers in connectivist learning

Wayfinding, which is a part of learning in connectivist learning, involves consolidating a wide variety of resources and information and building connections among them. However, learners often encounter difficulties in wayfinding, and are lost without technological support in connectivist learning. This study examined the wayfinding processes occurring within a network of learners in a personal social knowledge network (PSKN), explored differences in behavior patterns between high and low performers in PSKN. The results reveal the diversity and complexity of wayfinding in a PSKN, including finding and connecting nodes, forming cognitive maps, finding and filtering information, and creating new nodes. Moreover, the characteristics of wayfinding in the PSKN differed across participants, and high- and low-performing participants demonstrated different and unique wayfinding behavioral patterns, which provided a basis for comprehensive analyses of wayfinding. These findings can be used to provide instructional support and network navigation in connectivist learning for learners at various performance levels. The proposed PSKN shows promise in facilitate wayfinding including finding nodes and connecting nodes, as well as relations between knowledge nodes and the course base demonstrated by PSKN, providing great convenience for learners to form cognitive maps based on the node sequence. Compared with current studies, this research focuses on diversified interaction data and resource behavior rather than teaching videos and quizzes or exercises as the main resources and considering that course and technological factors influence the ways in which learners access resources in connectivist learning.

Choosing and accessing COVID-19 treatment options: a qualitative study with patients, caregivers, and health care providers in Lebanon

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained healthcare systems globally, particularly in terms of access to medicines. Lebanon has been greatly affected by the pandemic, having faced concomitant financial and economic crises. The objective of the study was to understand the experiences of patients with COVID-19 in Lebanon, as well as those of their families, and healthcare providers, with regards to their treatment decisions and accessibility to COVID-19 medicines.MethodsFor this qualitative study, we conducted 28 semi-structured interviews. We used purposive sampling to recruit participants with a diverse range of perspectives. The data collection phase spanned from August to November 2021 and was conducted virtually. After transcribing and translating the interviews, we employed thematic analysis to identify recurring themes and patterns.ResultsIn total, 28 individuals participated in this study. Participants highlighted challenges owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Accessing COVID-19 medicines posed major hurdles for physicians and patients, given limited availability, global shortages, local circumstances, community hoarding and stockpiling by pharmacies. Providers based treatment decisions on research, local and international practice guidelines, experiences and expert feedback. Patients sought information from social media, community members and physicians, as well as through word of mouth. Accessing medicines involved navigating the healthcare system, the black market, charities, personal networks and political parties and sourcing from abroad. The medicines were either free, subsidized or at inflated costs.ConclusionsThis study highlights the diversity and complexity of factors influencing decision-making and accessing medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon. Future research should explore strategies for ensuring medicine access during crises, drawing insights from comparative studies across different countries.