Social Networks and Mental Health
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2017) | Viewed by 51775
Special Issue Editor
Interests: social networks; medical sociology; biosociology and genetics; mental health and illness; quantitative methods; social inequalities
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Well over a century ago, Emile Durkheim (1897) attributed patterns of suicide in Europe to levels of social integration, or being bound to social groups. This research gave rise to the social network perspective, which embeds individuals and their decisions, behaviors, and health outcomes in social structures formed through webs of personal community and organizational ties. Given the early roots of network science in mental health research, it is useful to take stock of contemporary contributions at the intersection of these subfields. This Special Issue of Social Sciences explores reciprocal and dynamic relationships between social networks and mental health. Overwhelming evidence supports a social causation model, where social networks influence the development, course, or outcomes of mental health and substance use disorders. What do we know about social, psychological, or biological mechanisms underlying social causation? Likewise, how do lay or professional networks influence help-seeking or experiences in treatment? At the same time, the onset of an episode of mental illness or changes in mental health status can shape relationships and social networks in meaningful ways. How do personal social networks respond—either positively or negatively—to mental illness, and what independent consequences does network activation, growth, or decline have for recovery or quality of life? Why do networks evolve in response to changes in mental health status, and what factors moderate the nature or magnitude of these network dynamics? Finally, how do relationships between social networks and mental health relate to broader trends in diagnosis and medicalization, mental health services or professions, or social, economic, or health policies? The goal of this Special Issue on “Social Networks and Mental Health” is to highlight new and exciting research on these critically important issues.
Prof. Brea L. Perry
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Social networks
- Social capital
- Psychological distress
- Mental illness
- Mental health
- Psychiatric disorder
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