Multiple contexts and adolescent body mass index: Schools, neighborhoods, and social networks.
Adolescent health and behaviors are influenced by multiple contexts, including schools, neighborhoods, and social networks, yet these contexts are rarely considered simultaneously. In this study we combine social network community detection analysis and cross-classified multilevel modeling in order to compare the contributions of each of these three contexts to the total variation in adolescent body mass index (BMI). Wave 1 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health is used, and for robustness we conduct the analysis in both the core sample (122 schools; N = 14,144) and a sub-set of the sample (16 schools; N = 3335), known as the saturated sample due to its completeness of neighborhood data. After adjusting for relevant covariates, we find that the school-level and neighborhood-level contributions to the variance are modest compared with the network community-level (σ(2)school = 0.069, σ(2)neighborhood = 0.144, σ(2)network = 0.463). These results are robust to two alternative algorithms for specifying network communities, and to analysis in the saturated sample. While this study does not determine whether network effects are attributable to social influence or selection, it does highlight the salience of adolescent social networks and indicates that they may be a promising context to address in the design of health promotion programs.
University of Oregon, Department of Sociology, 736 Prince Lucien Campbell, 1415 Kincaid, Eugene, OR 97403, United States. Electronic address: cevans@uoregon.edu.
Clare R
CR
Evans
Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States.
Jukka-Pekka
JP
Onnela
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States.
David R
DR
Williams
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States.
S V
SV
Subramanian
D000293:Adolescent; D000067697:Adolescent Health / Q000592:standards; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Adolescents; Body mass index; Contexts; Neighborhoods; Schools; Social networks; United States