Use of Social Network Analysis to Identify Popular Opinion Leaders for a Youth-Led Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative

Programs to Prevent Violence Against Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Violence against children-which includes maltreatment (including physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence, and neglect), bullying (including cyberbullying), youth violence (including physical assault with or without weapons), intimate partner violence (including exposure to domestic violence and direct involvement in teen dating violence), and sexual violence-continues to present itself as a significant public health crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) leading to numerous short- and long-term deleterious outcomes. As such, the prevention of violence against children in SSA is a critical public health priority. In this systematic literature review, we identified 45 articles that reported on results from 22 programs that seek to reduce violence against children in SSA. Results suggested that programs that focus on (1) economic strengthening, (2) teachers schools, (3) entire families, (4) caregivers only, and (5) children only are generally effective in reducing violence against children by promoting focused action on the mechanisms of change (e.g., parenting skills, enhanced parent-child relationships, resistance skills for children). To date, no research in SSA has examined the impact of policy interventions on childhood victimization or community-level interventions to change norms and values that support violence against children. Future research is needed to examine the impacts of comprehensive efforts to prevent violence against children in SSA as well as factors that predict uptake and sustainability of such prevention efforts in SSA.

Supporting and Incentivizing Peer Leaders for an Internet-Based Private Peer Community for Youths With Type 1 Diabetes: Social Network and Directed Content Analysis

BACKGROUND

Youths with type 1 diabetes (T1D) frequently experience stigma. Internet-based peer communities can mitigate this through social support but require leaders to catalyze exchange. Whether nurturing potential leaders translates into a central role has not been well studied. Another issue understudied in such communities is lurking, the viewing of exchanges without commenting or posting.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to assess the centrality of the peer leaders we selected, trained, and incentivized within the Canadian Virtual Peer Network (VPN)-T1D. This is a private Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc) group that we created for persons aged 14 to 24 years with T1D. We specifically sought to (1) compare a quantitative estimate of network centrality between peer leaders and regular members, (2) assess the proportions of network exchanges that were social support oriented, and (3) assess proportions of high engagement (posts, comments, reactions, and votes) and low engagement (lurking) exchanges.

METHODS

We recruited peer leaders and members with T1D from prior study cohorts and clinics. We trained 10 leaders, provided them with a monthly stipend, and encouraged them to post on the private Facebook group we launched on June 21, 2017. We extracted all communications (posts, messages, reactions, polls, votes, and views) that occurred until March 20, 2020. We calculated each member's centrality (80% of higher engagement communications comprising posts, comments, and reactions plus 20% of members with whom they connected). We divided each member's centrality by the highest centrality to compute the relative centrality, and compared the mean values between leaders and members (linear regression). We calculated the proportions of communications that were posts, comments, reactions, and views without reaction. We performed content analysis with a social support framework (informational, emotional, esteem-related, network, and tangible support), applying a maximum of 3 codes per communication.

RESULTS

VPN-T1D gained 212 regular members and 10 peer leaders over 33 months; of these 222 members, 26 (11.7%) exited. Peer leaders had 10-fold higher relative centrality than regular members (mean 0.53, SD 0.26 vs mean 0.04, SD 0.05; 0.49 difference; 95% CI 0.44-0.53). Overall, 91.4% (203/222) of the members connected at least once through posts, comments, or reactions. Among the 75,051 communications, there were 5109 (6.81%) posts, comments, and polls, 6233 (8.31%) reactions, and 63,709 (84.9%) views (lurking). Moreover, 54.9% (3430/6253) of codes applied were social support related, 66.4% (2277/3430) of which were informational (eg, insurance and travel preparation), and 20.4% (699/3430) of which were esteem related (eg, relieving blame).

CONCLUSIONS

Designating, training, and incentivizing peer leaders may stimulate content exchange and creation. Social support was a key VPN-T1D deliverable. Although lurking accounted for a high proportion of the overall activity, even those demonstrating this type of passive participation likely derived benefits, given that the network exit rate was low.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.2196/18714.

A Systematic Review of Systems Science Approaches to Understand and Address Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

Purpose

We aimed to synthesize insights from systems science approaches applied to domestic and gender-based violence.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of systems science studies (systems thinking, group model-building, agent-based modeling [ABM], system dynamics [SD] modeling, social network analysis [SNA], and network analysis [NA]) applied to domestic or gender-based violence, including victimization, perpetration, prevention, and community responses. We used blinded review to identify papers meeting our inclusion criteria (i.e., peer-reviewed journal article or published book chapter that described a systems science approach to domestic or gender-based violence, broadly defined) and assessed the quality and transparency of each study.

Results

Our search yielded 1,841 studies, and 74 studies met our inclusion criteria (45 SNA, 12 NA, 8 ABM, and 3 SD). Although research aims varied across study types, the included studies highlighted social network influences on risks for domestic violence, clustering of risk factors and violence experiences, and potential targets for intervention. We assessed the quality of the included studies as moderate, though only a minority adhered to best practices in model development and dissemination, including stakeholder engagement and sharing of model code.

Conclusions

Systems science approaches for the study of domestic and gender-based violence have shed light on the complex processes that characterize domestic violence and its broader context. Future research in this area should include greater dialogue between different types of systems science approaches, consideration of peer and family influences in the same models, and expanded use of best practices, including continued engagement of community stakeholders.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10896-023-00578-8.

Social Network Influences on Adolescent E-cigarette Use

Background: Determine if individual adolescent vaping is associated with the vaping behavior of their school-based friendships; whether that association stems from peer influence or peer selection; and whether it varies by age. Methods: Two wave longitudinal survey of 1,208 students in one Midwestern US school district. Students were asked if they ever vaped and to name their seven closest friends within the school district. A roster of all eligible students was pre-loaded into the survey to facilitate network data collection. Terms for network exposure, the proportion of vaping friends; and selection, the number of new friends who vape, were created. Logistic regression and Stochastic Actor Oriented Models were used to test both influence and selection effects. Results: A cross-sectional logistic regression model indicated that friend vaping was associated with individual vaping (AOR = 4.96, p < 0.01); and lagged logistic models indicated that increased friend vaping was associated with individual vaping initiation (AOR = 1.72, p < 0.05). Selecting new friends who vape was also associated with becoming a vaper (AOR = 1.25, p < 0.01). Both influence and selection were present for those less than 14 years old. Conclusions: This is the first study to use social network analysis to show that adolescents who vape or initiate vaping are more likely to do so if their friends vape, and/or they make new friends who vape. Prevention and cessation programs should address the role of friend influence and selection on e-cigarette use; particularly at younger ages.

Caregivers' Perceptions of a Youth-led Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative: A Brief Report

Sexual and related forms of violence among middle and high school students are pervasive public health issues, and thus, there is a growing emphasis on the development and evaluation of sexual violence prevention efforts for youth. Caregivers such as parents are important partners in this work as they can facilitate youths' involvement (e.g., give them permission to participate, provide instrumental support such as rides), but their perception of their youth's involvement in sexual violence prevention efforts is largely unexplored. The current paper examined caregivers' perceptions of their teens' participation in a community-wide, out-of-school, youth-led sexual violence prevention initiative. Some caregivers of youth who were involved in the initiative (N = 19; 79.9% White; 21.1% Native American) responded to closed- and open-ended questions about what their teen had talked to them about in relation to the initiative, why their teen participated in the initiative, and how involvement impacted their teen. Furthermore, caregivers who attended events themselves responded to questions about what they learned, what they liked best, and what they liked least. Over half of caregivers said that their teens talked to them about bystander intervention, social emotional skills, and what constitutes sexual violence. Perceptions of the initiative were largely positive both in terms of what the teen learned at part of the programming and in caregivers' own experience participating. These results are promising for the role of caregivers in partners in prevention.

The stability of youth popular opinion leaders selected over time using social network analysis

Community interventions that use social network analysis to identify and involve influential individuals are promising for behavior change. However, youth friendships are often unstable. The current study examined the stability of the youth selected as influential in a friendship social network, that is, the degree to which youth selected at one time point were also selected at subsequent time points. Influential youth, also called popular opinion leaders (POLs), were selected to be part of a community-wide sexual violence prevention initiative. POLs were selected based on high in-degree (number of times an individual was nominated as a best friend by another student). We found that POLs were unstable: only 29.81%-41.01% of POLs were stable across time. The percentage of POLs who were stable decreased across time. No factors (social identities, behavioral, attitudinal) consistently predicted POL stability. Although these findings are in need of replications, social network interventions for youth may need to repeatedly select new POLs to account for instability.

A Promising Approach to Preventing Gender-Based Violence and HIV Among Slum-Dwelling Youth in Nairobi, Kenya

Gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV are interrelated public health problems affecting numerous global communities. To date, few prevention initiatives have demonstrated reductions in GBV and HIV, and thus there is an urgency to identify effective strategies to prevent these interconnected public health crises. The purpose of the current article is to describe a gender-enhanced life skills training curriculum (GE-LSTC) currently being developed in Nairobi, Kenya. We discuss previous research relevant to the GE-LSTC; the theoretical underpinnings of the GE-LSTC; the history and context of the GE-LSTC; preliminary implementation, feasibility, and acceptability data on the GE-LSTC; and plans for further refinement and rigorous evaluation of the GE-LSTC.