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- Title
Misery Does Not Love Company: Network Selection Mechanisms and Depression Homophily.
- Authors
Schaefer, David R.; Kornienko, Olga; Fox, Andrew M.
- Abstract
Conventional wisdom holds that friends protect against depression through the social support they provide; however, depression likely has a role in structuring friendship networks. In particular, we investigate friend selection mechanisms responsible for similarity in depression among friends (i.e., homophily). Preference is one explanation, yet several correlates of depression make homophilous selection among depressed individuals unlikely. We propose two alternative mechanisms—avoidance and withdrawal—that can produce depression homophily in the absence of preference. These alternative mechanisms create homophily indirectly by limiting friendship partners available to depressed individuals. We test the preference, avoidance, and withdrawal mechanisms using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and a dynamic network model. Results provide support for the withdrawal mechanism. These findings help explain how depression affects friend selection and have broader implications for understanding selection mechanisms responsible for network patterns such as homophily.
- Subjects
UNITED States; TEENAGERS &; social media; MENTAL depression; HOMOPHILY theory (Communication); ADOLESCENT psychology; FRIENDSHIP; TEENAGERS; PSYCHOLOGY
- Publication
American Sociological Review, 2011, Vol 76, Issue 5, p764
- ISSN
0003-1224
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0003122411420813