I don't usually post preprints, but I think the concept here is cool/important, even if the final results change a bit after review. Gita Huijgen & @drtomemery.bsky.social use Dutch population-level real kinship/residency networks to show that many 'non-kin' carers are in fact just more distant kin

And a whole host of papers on social connections/networks in older age:

And a couple of higher-income setting papers: A story we think we know, supported here by data: low-intensity (5-9 hrs/wk) caregiving slows cognitive decline, high-intensity (50+ hrs/wk) caregiving intensifies it. Baowen Xue et al show this neatly in the UK ELSA study

A review of how family support kin with dementia in Africa. This review only found 15 qual studies over 15 years - maybe linked to very low diagnosis rates for dementia continentally? But a nice overview of challenges & coping strategies. Again shows the role of family in providing joined-up care

Challenges and coping strategies of family caregivers of older adults with dementia in Africa: a systematic review and meta-synthesis - BMC Nursing

Background Family caregivers are central to the care of older adults living with dementia, particularly in African contexts where formal care services are scarce. Dementia caregiving is complex and un...

link.springer.com

Lorraine van Blerk et al highlight how Lesotho non-contributory pensions 1. Promote older-person indepedence in choice of carers 2. Reposition them as providers vs dependents 3. Benefit the wider community by circulating cash

A really nice analysis to show the potential benefits & harms of caring roles on later life cognition: at lower levels it may help, without they can overwhelm

Equalise: ESRC Centre for Lifecourse Health Equity@equalise.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Becoming a carer in later life has mixed effects on cognition. ✔️ Lower-intensity care → slower decline ⚠️ High-intensity care → faster decline The policy priority is clear: preventing carer overload with targeted support. academic.oup.com/ageing/artic... #CarersWeek #Ageing #CarePolicy #HealthEquity

You know you’re at a demography heavy conference when the notepad is a lexis diagram… @mpidr.bsky.social

Some more adolescent network papers: 1. Mary Page Leggett-James & colleaugues show middle school kids are influenced by best friends on emotions &"problem behaviours", but popularity-based norms predict social media use & weight concerns

More adolescent & social network stuff, from the UCNets dataset by Jiaqi Qin & Jingbo Meng, showing how support network foci (family/friends/partner/peers) predict adolescent wellbeing. Their broad findings: family > peers. This feels quite exploratory but a prompt for thought

Support Network Typology and Psychological Well-Being Among Young Adults

The psychological well-being of young adults is a growing concern in the United States. Social networks, comprising relationships that provide various types of support, are crucial predictors of th...

tandfonline.com

Have you thought carefully about how misinformation works differerntially for adolescents vs adults? Nor had I, so this was a really useful primer/thinkpiece, led by Ili Ma & Wouter van den Bos

Understanding the impact of misinformation on adolescents - Nature Human Behaviour

Adolescents are especially vulnerable to misinformation but also possess unique strengths. This Perspective outlines a forward-looking research agenda to understand these vulnerabilities and foster re...

nature.com

From China, led by Xingna Qin & @drthornberg.bsky.social , a nice use of SAOMs (co-modelling network & behaviour change) to show how both parents and peers have independent impacts on learner development I should be figuring out how to do similar things for adolescent sexual health...

The Role of Parental Influences in Chinese Adolescents’ Academic Achievement through Shaping Friendship Network Dynamics - Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Parents and friends are critical social influences on adolescents’ academic achievement, yet how they function together within dynamic friendship networks...

link.springer.com

Not my substantive field, but I really liked this anit-loneliness/isolation RCT that used personal social mapping to help people identify social needs and link them to community resources. Sadly not effective in this iteration, but hopefully something to learn from/build on?

Frontiers | Assessing a facilitated social network intervention for health outcomes in lonely and socially isolated people: the pragmatic, cluster-randomized PALS trial

IntroductionLoneliness has received attention in recent years as an important public health issue due to its associations with poorer mental and physical hea...

frontiersin.org

A nice paper by Cassie McMillan & colleagues showing exactly how networked behaviour threatens individual RCT inference - here differential co-eating in workplace canteens by study arm appears to downward bias effect estimates & potentially generalizability

Network threats to causal inference: Variations in network position by participation in randomized controlled trials

Researchers and practitioners rely on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to make causal inferences. However, most people who participate in RCTs are …

sciencedirect.com

Another way to use networks: unpacking health system actor connectivity in Ghana. Dominic Gadeka & @lucygilson.bsky.social show that while CHOs collaborate across districts, CHCs & volunteers are relatively isolated, likely limiting implementation of innovative policies, esp community-based ones

Multi-actor collaborations in primary health care implementation: a Social Network Analysis of the primary health care strategy in Ghana

Abstract. Bottom-up theory demonstrates that networks of actors play important roles in policy implementation, yet limited attention has so far been paid t

academic.oup.com

Two great social network papers from Alison Comfort & @drdrtsai.bsky.social highlighting the social spread of contraceptive use & infant HIV testing in rural Uganda I'm really enjoying the continuing flourishing of network studies in Africa to unpick behaviour & plan interventions!

A student from the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences Cameroon reached out to me -- he's writing his thesis on estimating the causal effect of insecticide-treated net use on malaria infections & has nobody in his immediate network who could provide a quick sanity check on his methodology.>

Kitten in Tree Needs Help!

Alt: Kitten in Tree Needs Help!

static.klipy.com

If you're thinking about a career in (social) network science, you should definitely look at this 3-year PostDoc with @franktakes.bsky.social using nation-level network data from the Netherlands!

In France, if you want to build a home above a certain size, you’re legally required to use a licensed architect. Can you guess what that size is

We have a UK-funded PhD opportunity to study how men in rural England can improve healthcare access for their social connections. Tight deadline, truly mixed-methods supervisory team at University of Lincoln. Ask me or Paul Mee for details

Leveraging Men’s Social Networks to Improve Health Engagement in Rural and Coastal Communities at University of Lincoln on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Leveraging Men’s Social Networks to Improve Health Engagement in Rural and Coastal Communities at University of Lincoln, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

New post, on how AI is coming for open source software: kucharski.substack.com/p/will-your-...

Will your favourite open source software tools soon be closed off?

Freely available software relies on credit. AI is destroying that.

kucharski.substack.com

Do you want to learn about global mental health? At @uclglobalhealth.bsky.social in London? With global experts like @thewrittenro.bsky.social and Kelly Rose-Clarke? Here's a 2 minute video about our brand new one-year MSc, do reach out to Rochelle or Kelly learn more! #globalhealth #mentalhealth

Global Mental Health MSc

YouTube video by UCLGlobalHealth

youtube.com

I was lucky to chat with Laura Forastiere @yalesph.bsky.social recently - a v nerdy discussion of networks & interventions - and stats that are well above my paygrade Which sent me off to read her latest methods paper on how to estimate causal effects in cRCTs using egonet contacts as controls

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Just read this new paper from Alison Comfort et al, incl @drdrtsai.bsky.social as senior author. Great evidence of clustering of knowlege (about getting your baby tested for HIV if you are living with HIV) on networks!

UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health@ucsfbixby.bsky.social · 8mo ago

A new paper led by Alison Comfort and colleagues in Uganda and the US found that having social ties to people who knew when babies should be tested for HIV was linked to a person’s knowledge about early infant testing

Another great paper using social network data from >5000 Ethiopians by @drsarahmyers.bsky.social, @danielredhead.bsky.social et al. They show how attitudes towards IPV against women cluster socially on gender-homphilous ties. But opposite-gender ties actually predict *reverse* IPVAW attitudes ‬

Gender-biased clustering of attitudes towards physical intimate partner violence: A social network analysis in south-central Ethiopia

Abstract. Changing social norms, shared beliefs about what is acceptable, is a key focus of global health campaigns aimed at ending intimate partner violen

academic.oup.com

How do people negotiate discussions around vaccines with close contacts, as reported by 100 US residents around Covid Respondents suggest ways of handling complex conversations: - Reframing diffs of opinion as caring - Focusing on personal experince not science - Build from shared moral viewpoints

Difficult Health Conversations: Dilemmas That Vaccinated People in the United States Experienced When Discussing COVID-19 Vaccination with Hesitant Family Members

During the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, public health officials in the United States called upon vaccinated individuals to encourage reluctant family members to get vaccinated. Due in part to the ...

tandfonline.com

Excellent marketing for this Kiss the Koala cafe. Terrible public health messaging

A handy translation guide for non-academic speakers.

🚨 New methods papers 🚨 I'm delighted to report we have two papers out this week that try and improve how we collect and analyse survey data Colleagues are probably bored of me saying it, but an interview is a dyadic process & we should always consider the effect of both parties & their interaction

On Tuesday, we hosted Jane Greve (VIVE – Danish Centre for Social Science Research) for a fascinating seminar on “Family Spillovers of Dementia.” Using 20 years of Danish register data, she explored how parental dementia affects adult children’s lives.

🚨 New paper 🚨 We have a lovely mixed-methods paper highlighting how method of data collection *strongly* affects what you find In the context of informal caregiving for older persons in rural South Africa Work led by Michelle Brear and Lenore Manderson

Variation in Health Status Reports: Triangulating Mixed Methods Data to Assess the Health and Wellbeing of Primary Caregivers to Older Rural South Africans - Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology

Caregivers’ health status is important, given its importance for their own wellbeing and capacity to provide quality care. While single item self-rated health questions in surveys are an efficient mea...

link.springer.com