Is having an educationally diverse social network good for health?

While network research often focuses on social integration as a predictor of health, a less-explored idea is that connections to dissimilar others may benefit well-being. As such, this study investigates whether network diversity is associated with changes in four health outcomes over a 3-year perio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Network science (Cambridge University Press) 2020-09, Vol.8 (3), p.418-444
Main Authors: Pachucki, Mark C., Leal, Diego F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Educational attainment
Ego
Health status
Mental health
Social integration
Sociodemographics
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Summary:While network research often focuses on social integration as a predictor of health, a less-explored idea is that connections to dissimilar others may benefit well-being. As such, this study investigates whether network diversity is associated with changes in four health outcomes over a 3-year period of time in the U.S.A. Specifically, we focus on how an underexplored measure of network diversity—educational attainment assortativity—is associated with common self-reported outcomes: propensity to exercise, body-mass index, mental health, and physical health. We extend prior research by conducting multilevel analyses using this measure of diversity while adjusting for a range of socio-demographic and network confounders. Data are drawn from a longitudinal probability sample of U.S. adults (n=10.679) in which respondents reported information about themselves and eight possible alters during three yearly surveys (2013–2015). We find, first, that higher educational attainment is associated with more educationally insular networks, while less-educated adults have more educationally diverse networks. Results further suggest that having educationally similar networks is associated with higher body-mass index among the less educated. Further exploration of the relationship between ego network diversity, tie strength, and health is warranted.
ISSN:2050-1242
2050-1250
DOI:10.1017/nws.2020.14