Spreading in Social Systems: Reflections

In this final chapter, we consider the state-of-the-art for spreading in social systems and discuss the future of the field. As part of this reflection, we identify a set of key challenges ahead. The challenges include the following questions: how can we improve the quality, quantity, extent, and accessibility of datasets? How can we extract more information from limited datasets? How can we take individual cognition and decision making processes into account? How can we incorporate other complexity of the real contagion processes? Finally, how can we translate research into positive real-world impact? In the following, we provide more context for each of these open questions.Comment: 7 pages, chapter to appear in "Spreading Dynamics in Social Systems"; Eds. Sune Lehmann and Yong-Yeol Ahn, Springer Natur

Testing for Network and Spatial Autocorrelation

Testing for dependence has been a well-established component of spatial statistical analyses for decades. In particular, several popular test statistics have desirable properties for testing for the presence of spatial autocorrelation in continuous variables. In this paper we propose two contributions to the literature on tests for autocorrelation. First, we propose a new test for autocorrelation in categorical variables. While some methods currently exist for assessing spatial autocorrelation in categorical variables, the most popular method is unwieldy, somewhat ad hoc, and fails to provide grounds for a single omnibus test. Second, we discuss the importance of testing for autocorrelation in data sampled from the nodes of a network, motivated by social network applications. We demonstrate that our proposed statistic for categorical variables can both be used in the spatial and network setting

Your Proof Fails? Testing Helps to Find the Reason

Applying deductive verification to formally prove that a program respects its formal specification is a very complex and time-consuming task due in particular to the lack of feedback in case of proof failures. Along with a non-compliance between the code and its specification (due to an error in at least one of them), possible reasons of a proof failure include a missing or too weak specification for a called function or a loop, and lack of time or simply incapacity of the prover to finish a particular proof. This work proposes a new methodology where test generation helps to identify the reason of a proof failure and to exhibit a counter-example clearly illustrating the issue. We describe how to transform an annotated C program into C code suitable for testing and illustrate the benefits of the method on comprehensive examples. The method has been implemented in STADY, a plugin of the software analysis platform FRAMA-C. Initial experiments show that detecting non-compliances and contract weaknesses allows to precisely diagnose most proof failures.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Inheritance patterns in citation networks reveal scientific memes

Memes are the cultural equivalent of genes that spread across human culture by means of imitation. What makes a meme and what distinguishes it from other forms of information, however, is still poorly understood. Our analysis of memes in the scientific literature reveals that they are governed by a surprisingly simple relationship between frequency of occurrence and the degree to which they propagate along the citation graph. We propose a simple formalization of this pattern and we validate it with data from close to 50 million publication records from the Web of Science, PubMed Central, and the American Physical Society. Evaluations relying on human annotators, citation network randomizations, and comparisons with several alternative approaches confirm that our formula is accurate and effective, without a dependence on linguistic or ontological knowledge and without the application of arbitrary thresholds or filters.Comment: 8 two-column pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review

Modelling the propagation of adult male muscle dysmorphia in Spain: economic, emotional and social drivers

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published in: “Applied Economics"; Volume 47, Issue 12, 2015; copyright Taylor & Francis; available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2013.870657Males aged over 40 do more gym practice to improve their body image as a way of reinforcing their personal self-esteem and sexual appeal. Cases when self-image becomes an obsession may result in a body dysmorphic disorder named ‘muscle dysmorphia’ (MD). The combination of psychological, environmental and biological drivers determines the appearance and development of this disorder. In this article, we developed a discrete population mathematical model to forecast the rate of prevalence of males who are noncompetitive bodybuilders at risk of suffering MD in Spain in forthcoming years. Economic, emotional, sociological and psychological motivations were taken into account to quantify the dynamic behaviour of Spanish noncompetitive bodybuilders. The impact of the unemployment is reflected in the construction of two coefficients, αu and α21, which explain subpopulation transits due to the economy. Sociological influences, such as human herding and social propagation, were also considered. Our results predict an increase in Spanish noncompetitive bodybuilders suffering MD from 1% in 2011 to around 11% in 2015. Our model can be applied to any other western country where data are available and to another study period when the hypotheses are applicable.De La Poza, E.; Jódar Sánchez, LA.; Alkasadi, M. (2015). Modelling the propagation of adult male muscle dysmorphia in Spain: economic, emotional and social drivers. Applied Economics. 47(12):1159-1169. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2013.870657S115911694712Blashfield, R. K., Sprock, J., & Fuller, A. K. (1990). Suggested guidelines for including or excluding categories in the DSM-IV. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31(1), 15-19. doi:10.1016/0010-440x(90)90049-xBoyda, D., & Shevlin, M. (2011). Childhood victimisation as a predictor of muscle dysmorphia in adult male bodybuilders. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 32(3-4), 105-115. doi:10.1080/03033910.2011.616289Brown, J., & Graham, D. (2008). Body Satisfaction in Gym-active Males: An Exploration of Sexuality, Gender, and Narcissism. Sex Roles, 59(1-2), 94-106. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9416-4Brown, J. T. (2005). Anabolic Steroids: What Should the Emergency Physician Know? Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, 23(3), 815-826. doi:10.1016/j.emc.2005.03.012Chaney, M. P. (2008). Muscle Dysmorphia, Self-esteem, and Loneliness among Gay and Bisexual Men. International Journal of Men’s Health, 7(2), 157-170. doi:10.3149/jmh.0702.157Choi, P. Y. L. (2002). Muscle dysmorphia: a new syndrome in weightlifters * Commentary. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 36(5), 375-376. doi:10.1136/bjsm.36.5.375Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2007). The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(4), 370-379. doi:10.1056/nejmsa066082Cohane, G. H., & Pope, H. G. (2001). Body image in boys: A review of the literature. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 29(4), 373-379. doi:10.1002/eat.1033Duato, R., & Jódar, L. (2013). Mathematical modeling of the spread of divorce in Spain. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 57(7-8), 1732-1737. doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2011.11.020Eide, E. R., & Ronan, N. (2001). Is participation in high school athletics an investment or a consumption good? Economics of Education Review, 20(5), 431-442. doi:10.1016/s0272-7757(00)00033-9Farrell, L., & Shields, M. A. (2002). Investigating the economic and demographic determinants of sporting participation in England. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 165(2), 335-348. doi:10.1111/1467-985x.00626French, S. A., Story, M., Downes, B., Resnick, M. D., & Blum, R. W. (1995). Frequent dieting among adolescents: psychosocial and health behavior correlates. American Journal of Public Health, 85(5), 695-701. doi:10.2105/ajph.85.5.695García, I., Jódar, L., Merello, P., & Santonja, F.-J. (2011). A discrete mathematical model for addictive buying: Predicting the affected population evolution. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 54(7-8), 1634-1637. doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2010.12.012González-Martí, I., Bustos, J. G. F., Jordán, O. R. C., & Mayville, S. B. (2012). Validation of a Spanish version of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale: Escala de Satisfacción Muscular. Body Image, 9(4), 517-523. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.05.002Greenberg, J. L., Markowitz, S., Petronko, M. R., Taylor, C. E., Wilhelm, S., & Wilson, G. T. (2010). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adolescent Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 17(3), 248-258. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2010.02.002Hildebrandt, T., Schlundt, D., Langenbucher, J., & Chung, T. (2006). Presence of muscle dysmorphia symptomology among male weightlifters. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 47(2), 127-135. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2005.06.001Hitzeroth, V., Wessels, C., Zungu-Dirwayi, N., Oosthuizen, P., & Stein, D. J. (2001). Muscle dysmorphia: A South African sample. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 55(5), 521-523. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1819.2001.00899.xHONEKOPP, J., RUDOLPH, U., BEIER, L., LIEBERT, A., & MULLER, C. (2007). Physical attractiveness of face and body as indicators of physical fitness in men. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(2), 106-111. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2006.09.001Humphreys, B. R., & Ruseski, J. E. (2011). An Economic Analysis of Participation and Time Spent in Physical Activity. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 11(1). doi:10.2202/1935-1682.2522Kanayama, G. (2006). Body Image and Attitudes Toward Male Roles in Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Users. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 697. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.4.697Keery, H., van den Berg, P., & Thompson, J. K. (2004). An evaluation of the Tripartite Influence Model of body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance with adolescent girls. Body Image, 1(3), 237-251. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.001Mosley, P. E. (2009). Bigorexia: bodybuilding and muscle dysmorphia. European Eating Disorders Review, 17(3), 191-198. doi:10.1002/erv.897Murray, S. B., Rieger, E., Touyz, S. W., & De la Garza García Lic, Y. (2010). Muscle dysmorphia and the DSM-V conundrum: Where does it belong? A review paper. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 43(6), 483-491. doi:10.1002/eat.20828Nieuwoudt, J. E., Zhou, S., Coutts, R. A., & Booker, R. (2012). Muscle dysmorphia: Current research and potential classification as a disorder. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(5), 569-577. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.03.006Olivardia, R. (2001). Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Largest of Them All? The Features and Phenomenology of Muscle Dysmorphia. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 9(5), 254-259. doi:10.1080/hrp.9.5.254.259Olivardia, R., Pope, H. G., & Hudson, J. I. (2000). Muscle Dysmorphia in Male Weightlifters: A Case-Control Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(8), 1291-1296. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.8.1291Phillips, K. A. (2009)Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder an Essential Guide, 49, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.Phillips, K. A., Wilhelm, S., Koran, L. M., Didie, E. R., Fallon, B. A., Feusner, J., & Stein, D. J. (2010). Body dysmorphic disorder: some key issues for DSM-V. Depression and Anxiety, 27(6), 573-591. doi:10.1002/da.20709Pompper, D. (2010). Masculinities, the Metrosexual, and Media Images: Across Dimensions of Age and Ethnicity. Sex Roles, 63(9-10), 682-696. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9870-7Pope, H. G., Gruber, A. J., Choi, P., Olivardia, R., & Phillips, K. A. (1997). Muscle Dysmorphia: An Underrecognized Form of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Psychosomatics, 38(6), 548-557. doi:10.1016/s0033-3182(97)71400-2Pope, H. G., Gruber, A. J., Mangweth, B., Bureau, B., deCol, C., Jouvent, R., & Hudson, J. I. (2000). Body Image Perception Among Men in Three Countries. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(8), 1297-1301. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.8.1297Kanayama, G., Brower, K. J., Wood, R. I., Hudson, J. I., & Pope, H. G. (2009). Issues for DSM-V: Clarifying the Diagnostic Criteria for Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Dependence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166(6), 642-645. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08111699Pope, H. G., Katz, D. L., & Hudson, J. I. (1993). Anorexia nervosa and «reverse anorexia» among 108 male bodybuilders. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34(6), 406-409. doi:10.1016/0010-440x(93)90066-dPopkin, B. M. (2003). The Nutrition Transition in the Developing World. Development Policy Review, 21(5-6), 581-597. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8659.2003.00225.xRaafat, R. M., Chater, N., & Frith, C. (2009). Herding in humans. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(10), 420-428. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.002RICCIARDELLI, L. A., & McCABE, M. P. (2003). Sociocultural and individual influences on muscle gain and weight loss strategies among adolescent boys and girls. Psychology in the Schools, 40(2), 209-224. doi:10.1002/pits.10075Silver, M. D. (2001). Use of Ergogenic Aids by Athletes. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 9(1), 61-70. doi:10.5435/00124635-200101000-00007Smolak, L., Levine, M. P., & Schermer, F. (1999). Parental input and weight concerns among elementary school children. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 25(3), 263-271. doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199904)25:33.0.co;2-vVarangis, E., Lanzieri, N., Hildebrandt, T., & Feldman, M. (2012). Gay male attraction toward muscular men: Does mating context matter? Body Image, 9(2), 270-278. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.01.003Catherine Walker, D., Anderson, D. A., & Hildebrandt, T. (2009). Body checking behaviors in men. Body Image, 6(3), 164-170. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.05.001Wolke, D., & Sapouna, M. (2008). Big men feeling small: Childhood bullying experience, muscle dysmorphia and other mental health problems in bodybuilders. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9(5), 595-604. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2007.10.00

Group interventions to improve health outcomes : a framework for their design and delivery

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Social marketing and healthy eating : Findings from young people in Greece

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12208-013-0112-xGreece has high rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases owing to poor dietary choices. This research provides lessons for social marketing to tackle the severe nutrition-related problems in this country by obtaining insight into the eating behaviour of young adults aged 18–23. Also, the main behavioural theories used to inform the research are critically discussed. The research was conducted in Athens. Nine focus groups with young adults from eight educational institutions were conducted and fifty-nine participants’ views towards eating habits, healthy eating and the factors that affect their food choices were explored. The study found that the participants adopted unhealthier nutritional habits after enrolment. Motivations for healthy eating were good health, appearance and psychological consequences, while barriers included lack of time, fast-food availability and taste, peer pressure, lack of knowledge and lack of family support. Participants reported lack of supportive environments when deciding on food choices. Based on the findings, recommendations about the development of the basic 4Ps of the marketing mix, as well as of a fifth P, for Policy are proposedPeer reviewe

The effectiveness of interventions to change six health behaviours: a review of reviews

Background: Several World Health Organisation reports over recent years have highlighted the high incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer. Contributory factors include unhealthy diets, alcohol and tobacco use and sedentary lifestyles. This paper reports the findings of a review of reviews of behavioural change interventions to reduce unhealthy behaviours or promote healthy behaviours. We included six different health-related behaviours in the review: healthy eating, physical exercise, smoking, alcohol misuse, sexual risk taking (in young people) and illicit drug use. We excluded reviews which focussed on pharmacological treatments or those which required intensive treatments (e. g. for drug or alcohol dependency). Methods: The Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) and several Ovid databases were searched for systematic reviews of interventions for the six behaviours (updated search 2008). Two reviewers applied the inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the quality of the reviews. The results were discussed in a narrative synthesis. Results: We included 103 reviews published between 1995 and 2008. The focus of interventions varied, but those targeting specific individuals were generally designed to change an existing behaviour (e. g. cigarette smoking, alcohol misuse), whilst those aimed at the general population or groups such as school children were designed to promote positive behaviours (e. g. healthy eating). Almost 50% (n = 48) of the reviews focussed on smoking (either prevention or cessation). Interventions that were most effective across a range of health behaviours included physician advice or individual counselling, and workplace- and school-based activities. Mass media campaigns and legislative interventions also showed small to moderate effects in changing health behaviours. Generally, the evidence related to short-term effects rather than sustained/longer-term impact and there was a relative lack of evidence on how best to address inequalities. Conclusions: Despite limitations of the review of reviews approach, it is encouraging that there are interventions that are effective in achieving behavioural change. Further emphasis in both primary studies and secondary analysis (e.g. systematic reviews) should be placed on assessing the differential effectiveness of interventions across different population subgroups to ensure that health inequalities are addressed.</p

Having a lot of a good thing: multiple important group memberships as a source of self-esteem.

Copyright: © 2015 Jetten et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedMembership in important social groups can promote a positive identity. We propose and test an identity resource model in which personal self-esteem is boosted by membership in additional important social groups. Belonging to multiple important group memberships predicts personal self-esteem in children (Study 1a), older adults (Study 1b), and former residents of a homeless shelter (Study 1c). Study 2 shows that the effects of multiple important group memberships on personal self-esteem are not reducible to number of interpersonal ties. Studies 3a and 3b provide longitudinal evidence that multiple important group memberships predict personal self-esteem over time. Studies 4 and 5 show that collective self-esteem mediates this effect, suggesting that membership in multiple important groups boosts personal self-esteem because people take pride in, and derive meaning from, important group memberships. Discussion focuses on when and why important group memberships act as a social resource that fuels personal self-esteem.This study was supported by 1. Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT110100238) awarded to Jolanda Jetten (see http://www.arc.gov.au) 2. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP110200437) to Jolanda Jetten and Genevieve Dingle (see http://www.arc.gov.au) 3. support from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being Program to Nyla Branscombe, S. Alexander Haslam, and Catherine Haslam (see http://www.cifar.ca)

The breadth of primary care: a systematic literature review of its core dimensions

Background: Even though there is general agreement that primary care is the linchpin of effective health care delivery, to date no efforts have been made to systematically review the scientific evidence supporting this supposition. The aim of this study was to examine the breadth of primary care by identifying its core dimensions and to assess the evidence for their interrelations and their relevance to outcomes at (primary) health system level. Methods: A systematic review of the primary care literature was carried out, restricted to English language journals reporting original research or systematic reviews. Studies published between 2003 and July 2008 were searched in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, King's Fund Database, IDEAS Database, and EconLit. Results: Eighty-five studies were identified. This review was able to provide insight in the complexity of primary care as a multidimensional system, by identifying ten core dimensions that constitute a primary care system. The structure of a primary care system consists of three dimensions: 1. governance; 2. economic conditions; and 3. workforce development. The primary care process is determined by four dimensions: 4. access; 5. continuity of care; 6. coordination of care; and 7. comprehensiveness of care. The outcome of a primary care system includes three dimensions: 8. quality of care; 9. efficiency care; and 10. equity in health. There is a considerable evidence base showing that primary care contributes through its dimensions to overall health system performance and health. Conclusions: A primary care system can be defined and approached as a multidimensional system contributing to overall health system performance and health