Draft
Deep Generative Modeling in Network Science with Applications to Public Policy Research
Explores deep generative modeling in network science towards informing key public policy questions.
Sep 30, 2020
Tool
A Manual for Cultural Analysis
Many academic disciplines have formally theorized culture as socially learned information that can influence beliefs and behaviors. This tool combines methods from anthropology and related areas to create a manual to examine cultural data.
Jul 9, 2018
Journal Article
A Pilot Test of a Motivational Interviewing Social Network Intervention to Reduce Substance Use Among Housing First Residents
Helping formerly homeless people identify members of their social network who trigger alcohol and other drug (AOD) use may motivate them to reduce high-risk AOD use in the transition to permanent housing.
Feb 9, 2018
Journal Article
The Fracture of Relational Space in Depression: Predicaments in Primary Care Help Seeking
A disease-oriented concept of depression locates pathology within the individual but depressed individuals describe depression as a burden for their larger social context and seek to hide both diagnosis and treatment.
Oct 7, 2016
Journal Article
Feasibility of a Computer-Assisted Social Network Motivational Interviewing Intervention for Substance Use and HIV Risk Behaviors for Housing First Residents
A motivational interviewing approach that targets social networks to reduce risky behavior was found to be helpful in a focus group of residents and staff of Housing First, a permanent supportive housing organization for formerly homeless people.
Sep 19, 2016
Journal Article
A Computer-Assisted Motivational Social Network Intervention to Reduce Alcohol, Drug and HIV Risk Behaviors Among Housing First Residents
This pilot study will assess whether coupling social network visualizations with motivational interviewing can help Housing First participants transition away from homelessness and high-risk behaviors, such as substance use and risky sexual activity.
Mar 29, 2016
Journal Article
The Salience and Severity of Relationship Problems Among Low-Income Couples
Developing policies that are responsive to the needs of, and attractive to, low-income couples requires, at minimum, descriptive data on the challenges those couples perceive in their own relationships.
2016
Journal Article
Health Implications of Social Networks for Children Living in Public Housing
This study examines the health composition of the social networks of children living in subsidized housing within market rate developments.
Dec 3, 2015
Journal Article
Intergenerational Social Networks and Health Behaviors Among Children Living in Public Housing
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Sep 25, 2015
Journal Article
Befriending Risky Peers: Factors Driving Adolescents' Selection of Friends with Similar Marijuana Use
Adolescents often befriend peers who are similar to themselves on a range of demographic, behavioral, and social characteristics, including substance use.
Mar 17, 2015
Journal Article
Grandparenting Experiences Among Adults with a History of Depression: A Mixed-Methods Study
Grandparenting is an important social role, but how adults with a history of depression experience grandparenting is unknown; we describe grandparenting experiences reported by an ethnically diverse sample of adults with a history of depression.
Mar 10, 2015
Journal Article
Risk Evaluations and Condom Use Decisions of Homeless Youth: A Multi-Level Qualitative Investigation
Interventions targeting homeless youth should reflect multiple levels of risk behavior and evaluation in order to address the diversity of risk profiles.
Feb 25, 2015
Journal Article
The Analysis of Duocentric Social Networks: A Primer
The authors offer new tools for expanding on the existing literature by describing methods of collecting and analyzing duocentric social networks, that is, the combined social networks of couples.
Feb 13, 2015
Journal Article
Minority Parents' Perspectives on Racial Socialization and School Readiness in the Early Childhood Period
Very young minority children have already been alerted by their parents to unfair treatment due to racial discrimination.
Jan 8, 2015
Journal Article
Understanding Condom Use Decision Making Among Homeless Youth Using Event-Level Data
This is one of the first qualitative event-based studies to understand the various mechanisms through which multiple factors influence condom use decision making among homeless youth.
Nov 26, 2014
Journal Article
A Prospective Study of Marijuana Use Change and Cessation Among Adolescents
This study evaluates a range of neighborhood, family, peer network, and individual factors as predictors of marijuana use, change, and non-use over one year, and cessation over six years.
Oct 17, 2014
Journal Article
Successful Schools and Risky Behaviors Among Low-Income Adolescents
Increasing performance of public schools in low-income communities may be a powerful mechanism to decrease very risky health behaviors among low-income adolescents and to decrease health disparities across the life span.
Jul 30, 2014
Journal Article
Peer Influence on Marijuana Use in Different Types of Friendships
This study examines whether structural features of friendships moderate friends' influence on adolescent marijuana use over time.
2014
Journal Article
A Social Network Comparison of Low-Income Black and White Newlywed Couples
This study draws on interviews with 57 first-married newlyweds from low-income communities to compare the composition and structure of Black and White couples' duocentric social networks.
2014
Journal Article
The Impact of Public Housing on Social Networks: A Natural Experiment
Different types of public housing have a modest impact on the health composition of one's social network, suggesting the importance of housing policy for health.
2014
Journal Article
Selection and Influence Mechanisms Associated with Marijuana Initiation and Use in Adolescent Friendship Networks
Friends are thought to influence adolescent drug use.
Sep 1, 2013
Draft
Adolescent Friendship Networks and Trajectories of Binge Drinking
Examines how adolescent friendship networks are linked to binge drinking trajectories into young adulthood using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
Jul 2, 2013
Journal Article
HIV Risk Behavior and Access to Services: What Predicts HIV Testing Among Heterosexually Active Homeless Men
This study examined the association between individual (HIV risk) and structural (service access) factors and past year HIV testing.
May 3, 2013
Journal Article
Masculinity and HIV Risk Among Homeless Men in Los Angeles
HIV continues to be a serious public health problem for men who have sex with women (MSW), especially homeless MSW.
2013
Journal Article
Neighborhood Characteristics and the Initiation of Marijuana Use and Binge Drinking
Neighborhood characteristics such as a higher unemployment rate and greater perceptions of safety appear to influence initiation of marijuana use and binge drinking, respectively. The mechanisms appear to be distinct for each substance.
2013
Journal Article
Peer Influence and Selection Processes in Adolescent Smoking Behavior: A Comparative Study
Adolescent smoking studies find evidence of active peer influence and selection processes.
2013
Journal Article
Understanding Heterosexual Condom Use Among Homeless Men
This study uses an event-based approach to examine individual, relationship, and contextual correlates of heterosexual condom use among homeless men.
2013
Journal Article
Unprotected Sex Among Heterosexually Active Homeless Men: Results from a Multi-Level Dyadic Analysis
This research uses multi-level modeling to investigate the context of unprotected sex among heterosexually active homeless men in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.
2013
Journal Article
Monogamy on the Street: A Mixed Methods Study of Homeless Men
In this study, we used a mixed methods approach to explore the determinants of relationship patterns and risky sex among homeless men living in downtown Los Angeles.
2013
Journal Article
Sex Trade Behavior Among Heterosexually Active Homeless Men
This study provides a detailed examination of the sex trade-related attitudes and behaviors of homeless men.
2013
Journal Article
Understanding Pregnancy-Related Attitudes and Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Study Homeless Youth
Effective and accessible pregnancy prevention and family planning programs for homeless youth are needed.
Dec 1, 2012
Journal Article
Substance Use and Other Risk Factors for Unprotected Sex: Results from an Event-Based Study of Homeless Youth
This study of condom use among homeless youth in Los Angeles County found that a broad range of individual, relationship, and contextual factors play a role in condom use.
Aug 1, 2012
Journal Article
Resisting Smoking When a Best Friend Smokes: Do Intrapersonal and Contextual Factors Matter?
The strong link between having a best friend who smoked and increased adolescent smoking isn't affected by individual factors such as self-esteem, depressing and access to cigarettes.
Mar 1, 2012
Journal Article
Behavioral Health and Social Normative Influence: Correlates of Concurrent Sexual Partnering Among Heterosexually-Active Homeless Men
Sexual concurrency poses significant HIV/STI transmission risk.
2012
Journal Article
Sex and Relationships on the Street: How Homeless Men Judge Partner Risk on Skid Row
Homeless men on LA's Skid Row use visual and behavioral cues, social reputation, feelings of trust, perceived relationship seriousness, and medically inaccurate ''folk'' beliefs to judge whether partners were risky and/or condom use was warranted.
2012
Journal Article
Association of Childhood Abuse with Homeless Women's Social Networks
The effects of childhood physical abuse should be more actively investigated in clinical settings, especially those frequented by homeless women.
2012
Journal Article
Social Distance and Homophily in Adolescent Smoking Initiation
The association between peer smoking and adolescent smoking initiation appears to be due to both peer selection and direct influence.
2012
Journal Article
Social Network and Individual Correlates of Sexual Risk Behavior Among Homeless Young Men Who Have Sex with Men
HIV prevention programs for homeless YMSM may warrant a multipronged approach that helps these youth strengthen their ties to prosocial peers, develop more positive condom attitudes, and access needed mental health and housing services.
2012
Journal Article
Unprotected Sex of Homeless Youth: Results from a Multilevel Analysis of Individual, Social Network, and Relationship Factors
Investigates the multiple levels of influence on unprotected sex among homeless youth, including social network, individual, and partner level influences.
2012
Journal Article
Who Is Supporting Homeless Youth? Predictors of Support in Personal Networks
Homeless youth lack the traditional support networks of their housed peers, which increases their risk for poor health outcomes.
2012
Journal Article
Romantic Attraction and Adolescent Smoking Trajectories
This analysis examines smoking behaviors across sexual orientation groups by describing how same- and opposite-sex romantic attraction, and changes in romantic attraction, are associated with trajectories of smoking over six years.
Dec 1, 2011
Journal Article
Nonexperts' Recognition of Structure in Personal Network Data
A patient's social environment in an important dimension of treatment for chronic illness; interventions intended to help individuals understand and change their social environments could benefit from incorporating visualizations of social networks.
Mar 27, 2011
Journal Article
Making Sense of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Illness Perceptions Among Traumatic Injury Survivors
What traumatic stress survivors believe about PTSD may make it difficult for them to recognize that they have a serious mental health condition that warrants treatment.
Mar 1, 2011
Journal Article
The Social Context of Homeless Men's Substance Use
Substance use among homeless men is associated with health problems and riskier personal networks. These findings underscore the importance of interventions that focus on improving mental health and mitigating the drug-using norms of personal networks.
2011
Journal Article
Improving Access to and Utilization of Adolescent Preventive Health Care: The Perspectives of Adolescents
Adolescents and parents reported that the most effective way to encourage preventive care utilization among teens was to directly address provider-level barriers related to the timeliness, privacy, confidentiality, comprehensiveness, and continuity of their preventive care.
Aug 1, 2010
Journal Article
Friendship Networks and Trajectories of Adolescent Tobacco Use
This article examines how friendship networks in adolescence are linked to tobacco use trajectories through a combination of analytic techniques that traditionally are located in separate literatures: social network analysis and developmental trajectory analysis.
Jul 1, 2010
Research Brief
How Can Faith-Based Organizations Help Address the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Central America? (Spanish translation)
Describes the role that faith-based organizations play in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras and how this role might be expanded.
May 26, 2010
Report
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in HIV Prevention and Care in Central America (Spanish translation)
Provides an overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, describes the role that faith-based organizations play in addressing HIV in these countries, and discusses how this role might be expanded.
May 24, 2010
Research Brief
How Can Faith-Based Organizations Help Address the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Central America?
Describes the role that faith-based organizations play in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras and how this role might be expanded.
May 20, 2010
Report
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in HIV Prevention and Care in Central America
Provides an overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, describes the role that faith-based organizations play in addressing HIV in these countries, and discusses how this role might be expanded.
May 19, 2010
Journal Article
Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Change in Smoking Status
Whether or not an adolescent stops or begins smoking is influenced by whether or not his/her romantic relationship smokes.
2010
Journal Article
Is Substance Use a Barrier to Protected Sex Among Homeless Women? Results from Between- and Within-Subjects Event Analyses
This study used event-based analyses to examine how alcohol and drug use are associated with protected sex among women residing in temporary shelters in Los Angeles County.
2010
Journal Article
Parents' Disclosure of Their HIV Infection to Their Children in the Context of the Family
Findings from interviews with HIF-infected parents, their minor and adult children, and caregivers suggest that disclosure of HIV status should be done within a family context.
2010
Journal Article
Peer Influence and Selection Effects on Adolescent Smoking
The effects of peer influence and selection on adolescent smoking may be much weaker than earlier studies assumed.
2010
Journal Article
Sampling to Reduce Respondent Burden in Personal Network Studies and Its Effect on Estimates of Structural Measures
Interview time in personal network studies can be reduced by randomly sampling a smaller set of the alters named by the respondent and simulating the error that results when data are collected from the smaller group.
2010
Journal Article
Unprotected Sex of Homeless Women Living in Los Angeles County: An Investigation of the Multiple Levels of Risk
Homeless women who have a high commitment to their partner and experience physical violence are more likely to have unprotected sex. Trust in condom efficacy and perceived low susceptibility to HIV make women less likely to engage in risky sex.
2010
Research Brief
How Parental HIV Affects Children
Examines the unique challenges faced by children of HIV-infected parents and indicates how some of the negative effects of parental HIV on children could be ameliorated.
Jul 30, 2009
Journal Article
Homeless Women's Personal Networks: Implications for Understanding Risk Behavior
The goal of this exploratory study was to examine the composition of homeless women's personal networks in order to better understand the social context of risk behavior in this vulnerable population.
2009
Journal Article
The Social Context of Homeless Women's Alcohol and Drug Use
Homeless women with a greater proportion of heavy alcohol users in their personal networks had greater odds of engaging in binge drinking, and women with a greater proportion of drug users in their networks had greater odds of using marijuana, cocaine, crack, and methamphetamine or other amphetamines.
2009
Journal Article
When, Where, Why and with Whom Homeless Women Engage in Risky Sexual Behaviors: A Framework for Understanding Complex and Varied Decision-Making Processes
Impoverished women worldwide are at high risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. This study explores how homeless women make risky sex decisions and the role that alcohol and drugs play in this process.
2009
Journal Article
HIV-related Stigma Among People with HIV and Their Families: A Qualitative Analysis
The authors examined the interconnectedness of stigma experiences in families living with HIV, from the perspective of multiple family members.
2008
