The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The prevalence of smoking has decreased substantially in the United States over the past 30 years. We examined the extent of the person-to-person spread of smoking behavior and the extent to which groups of widely connected people quit together.

Methods

We studied a densely interconnected social network of 12,067 people assessed repeatedly from 1971 to 2003 as part of the Framingham Heart Study. We used network analytic methods and longitudinal statistical models.

Results

Discernible clusters of smokers and nonsmokers were present in the network, and the clusters extended to three degrees of separation. Despite the decrease in smoking in the overall population, the size of the clusters of smokers remained the same across time, suggesting that whole groups o

SUBMITTER: Christakis NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2822344 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature