Exploring the mechanistic pathways of how social network influences social norms in adolescent smoking prevention interventions.

ABSTRACT: We know little about how smoking prevention interventions might leverage social network structures to enhance protective social norms. In this study we combined statistical and network science methods to explore how social networks influence social norms related to adolescent smoking in school-specific settings in Northern Ireland and Colombia. Pupils (12-15 years old) participated in two smoking prevention interventions in both countries (n = 1344). A Latent Transition Analysis identified three groups characterized by descriptive and injunctive norms towards smoking. We employed a Separable Temporal Random Graph Model to analyze homophily in social norms and conducted a descriptive analysis of the changes in the students' and their friends' social norms over time to account for social inf

SUBMITTER: Montes F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9944961 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature