Social interaction networks and depressive symptoms
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Face-to-face social interactions are an important aspect of peoples' social lives. A lack of interactions can explain how individuals develop depressive symptoms, but depressive symptoms can also explain how individuals engage in social interactions. Understanding in detail how depression affects individuals' social interaction networks is important to break this vicious cycle of social isolation and depression. This article tackles two central methodological challenges in understanding the micro-level mechanisms between depressive symptoms and social interactions. The first contribution is the application of novel data collection strategies that employ RFID sensors to record behavioral data on interpersonal interaction, which we combine with self-reported depressive symptoms and sociometric data on friendship relations. The second contribution is the analysis of these data with statistical social network methodology that allows testing hypotheses on the duration of interactions between pairs of individuals. With this unique approach, we test four social network hypotheses in an empirical setting of two first-year undergraduate student cohorts (N(pairs) = 2,454, N(individuals) = 123) spending a weekend together in a remote camp house. We conclude that depressive symptoms are associated with (1) spending less time in social interaction, (2) spending time with similarly depressed others, (3) spending time in pair-wise interactions rather than group interactions, and with (4) spending more time with reciprocal friends (but not with unilaterally perceived friends). Our findings offer new insights into social consequences of depressive symptoms and call for the development of social network-oriented intervention strategies to prevent depressed individuals from being socially isolated.
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