Comparing the measurement of different social networks

__Background:__ Technological progress has enabled researchers to use new unobtrusive measures of relationships between actors in social network analysis. However, research on how these unobtrusive measures of peer connections relate to traditional sociometric nominations in adolescents is scarce. Therefore, the current study compared traditional peer nominated networks with more unobtrusive measures of peer connections: Communication networks that consist of instant messages in an online social platform and proximity networks based on smartphones' Bluetooth signals that measure peer proximity. The three social network types were compared in their coverage, stability, overlap, and the extent to which the networks exhibit the often observed sex segregation in adolescent social networks. __Method:__ Two samples were derived from the MyMovez project: a longitudinal sample of 444 adolescents who participated in the first three waves of the first year of the project (Y1; 51% male; Mage = 11.29, SDage = 1.26) and a cross-sectional sample of 774 adolescents that participated in fifth wave in the third year (Y3; 48% male; Mage = 10.76, SDage = 1.23). In the project, all participants received a research smartphone and a wrist-worn accelerometer. On the research smartphone, participants received daily questionnaires such as peer nomination questions (i.e., nominated networ

The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Children’s Dietary Behaviors

Over the past years vlogs rapidly have become an attractive platform for food industries, sponsoring social media influencers to promote their products. As with more traditional media, social media influencers predominantly promote unhealthy drinks and foods that are high in sugar, fat, and salt – consumption of which may increase the risk of overweight, obesity, and non-communicable diseases. The aim of the current Brief Research Report is to examine the impact of vlogs on children’s unhealthy dietary behaviors. Drawing on longitudinal survey data from 453 8- to 12-year-old children, we analyzed the longitudinal relations between children’s frequency of watching vlogs and their consumption of unhealthy beverages and snacks. Structural path modeling analyses of three waves of data with 1-year intervals showed that children’s self-reported frequency of watching vlogs influenced consumption of unhealthy beverages 2 years later. The analyses did not yield significant relat

The reciprocal effects of physical activity and happiness in adolescents

Background Positive associations exist between physical activity and happiness in adolescents. However, previous studies have mostly used self-reported measures and cross-sectional designs. There is a need for more insight into the directionality and duration of this association. The current study was the first to investigate whether an increase in physical activity leads to happiness and whether adolescents become more physically active when they are happier. These two effects were studied between (on a day-to-day

Testing a Social Network Intervention Using Vlogs to Promote Physical Activity Among Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial

There is a need to stimulate physical activity among adolescents, but unfortunately, they are hard to reach with traditional mass media interventions. A promising alternative is to carry out social network interventions. In social network interventions, a small group of individuals (influence agents) is selected to promote health-related behaviors within their social network. This study investigates whether a social network intervention is more effective to promote physical activity, compared to a mass media intervention and no intervention. Ad

Promoting water consumption among Dutch children: an evaluation of the social network intervention Share H2 O

Background: There is a need to develop and improve interventions promoting healthy drinking behaviors among children. A promising method could be to stimulate peer influence within children’s social networks. In the Share H2O social network intervention (SNI), peer influence was utilized by selecting a subset of influential children and training them as ‘influence agents’ to promote water consumption—as an alternative to SSBs. Previous research has mainly focused on the process of selecting influence agents. However, the process of motivating influence agents to promote the behavior has hardly received any research attention. Therefore, in the SNI Share H2O SNI, this motivation process was emphasized and grounded in the self-determination t

Promoting Water Consumption among Children: A Three-Arm Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Testing a Social Network Intervention

Objective: To test the effectiveness of a social network intervention (SNI) to improve children's healthy drinking behaviors. Design: A three-arm cluster randomized control trial design was used. In the SNI, a subset of children were selected and trained as 'influence agents' to promote water consumption-as an alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)-among their peers. In the active control condition, all children were simultaneously exposed to the benefits of water consumption. The control condition received no intervention. Setting: 11 schools in the Netherlands. Participants: 451 children (M age = 10.74, SD age =.97; 50.8% girls). Results: Structural path models showed that children exposed to the SNI consumed.20 less SSBs per day compared to those in the control condition (β =.25, p =.035). There was a trend showing that children exposed to the SNI consumed.17 less SSBs per day than those in the active control condition (β =.20, p =.061). No differences were found between conditions for water consumption. However, t

Observation of hard scattering in photoproduction events with a large rapidity gap at HERA

Events with a large rapidity gap and total transverse energy greater than 5 GeV have been observed in quasi-real photoproduction at HERA with the ZEUS detector. The distribution of these events as a function of the $\gamma p$ centre of mass energy is consistent with diffractive scattering. For total transverse energies above 12 GeV, the hadronic final states show predominantly a two-jet structure with each jet having a transverse energy greater than 4 GeV. For the two-jet events, little energy flow is found outside the jets. This observation is consistent with the hard scattering of a quasi-real photon with a colourless object in the proton.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil

Network effects on adolescents' perceived barriers to physical activity

Item does not contain fulltextBackground: Adolescent physical activity (PA) is widely linked to positive health outcomes. Unfortunately, 80% of adolescents do not meet recommendations, which may be due to perceived barriers to PA. Peer interactions significantly affect adolescent PA behaviors. This study aims to analyze distribution of PA barriers throughout adolescent friendship networks and barriers' associations with PA. Methods: Adolescents (Nn=n383, meann=n10.77 y, SDn=n1.30 y, 51.4% male) reported frequency of experiencing PA barriers (body related, social, fitness, convenience, and resource) and names of their friends. Average steps and minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA per day were measured using accelerometers. Linear network autocorrelation models determined if friends perceived barriers similarly when compared with nonfriends and analyzed relationships between barriers and objective PA measures while controlling for network effects. Results: Moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA, steps per day, body-related barriers, and social barriers displayed significant network effects, suggesting significant association with the scores of their friends. Average steps per day were significantly associated with age, sex, and social barriers, while inversely associated with fitness barriers. Conclusions: This research suggests adolescents' perceived PA barriers are significantly associated with those of their friends. Researchers and practitioners aiming to reduce barriers to PA among adolescents may wish to assess peer reinforcing effects.6 p