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https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2018-0585
Title: | Do birds of a feather flock together within a team-based physical activity intervention? A social network analysis | Authors: | Edney, S Olds, T Ryan, J Plotnikoff, R Vandelanotte, C Curtis, R Maher, C |
Keywords: | health behavior homophily social contagion Adult Australia Body Mass Index Exercise Female Friends Health Promotion Humans Internet Male Sedentary Behavior Self Report Social Behavior Social Networking |
Issue Date: | 1-Jan-2019 | Publisher: | Human Kinetics | Citation: | Edney, S, Olds, T, Ryan, J, Plotnikoff, R, Vandelanotte, C, Curtis, R, Maher, C (2019-01-01). Do birds of a feather flock together within a team-based physical activity intervention? A social network analysis. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 16 (9) : 745-751. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2018-0585 | Abstract: | Background: Homophily is the tendency to associate with friends similar to ourselves. This study explored the effects of homophily on team formation in a physical activity challenge in which “captains” signed up their Facebook friends to form teams. Methods: This study assessed whether participants (n = 430) were more similar to their teammates than to nonteammates with regard to age, sex, education level, body mass index, self-reported and objectively measured physical activity, and negative emotional states; and whether captains were more similar to their own teammates than to nonteammates. Variability indices were calculated for each team, and a hypothetical variability index, representing that which would result from randomly assembled teams, was also calculated. Results: Within-team variability was less than that for random teams for all outcomes except education level and depression, with differences (SDs) ranging from +0.15 (self-reported physical activity) to +0.47 (age) (P < .001 to P = .001). Captains were similar to their teammates except in regard to age, with captains being 2.6 years younger (P = .003). Conclusions: Results support hypotheses that self-selected teams are likely to contain individuals with similar characteristics, highlighting potential to leverage team-based health interventions to target specific populations by instructing individuals with risk characteristics to form teams to help change behavior. | Source Title: | Journal of Physical Activity and Health | URI: | https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/226748 | ISSN: | 15433080 15435474 |
DOI: | 10.1123/jpah.2018-0585 |
Appears in Collections: | Staff Publications Elements |
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Edney et al. 2019 JPHA Homophily in Active Team.pdf | 311.45 kB | Adobe PDF | CLOSED | None |
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