1. Social Network Influences on Comorbidity of Physical and Mental Health
Symptoms in Communities Exposed to Major Natural Hazards – Jennifer Villalobos
Abstract
Introduction: Specific social influences on grouped health conditions are yet unstudied
and are central to comorbidity research. It is unclear if diseases cluster in relation to
people’s social networks density or other structural variations in people’s networks.
Although there are many studies that have documented relationships between
engagement in social networks and health status, the influence of social relationships on
the comorbidity of physical health with mental health has not been researched.
Goal: We want to study the influence of different types of social networks on the co-
occurrence of physical health symptoms and post-traumatic stress in disaster settings.
Methods: We analyzed data from prior face-to-face interviews conducted to understand
recovery of community members in the years following disasters. Sites exposed to major
natural hazards included—volcanic eruptions experienced by five sites in Ecuador
(n=263), a volcanic eruption experienced by one research site in Mexico (n=62), and
landslides experienced by one research site in Mexico (n=139). Four general social
network types were identified that might increase or decrease comorbidity of physical
and mental health 1) Tight Network: a dense ball of yarn where members all know each
other; 2) Extending Network: a dense core with loosely connected peripheral members;
3) Subgroup Network: at least two clearly identifiable clusters of members in a network
4) Sparse Network: very low connectivity with many isolated or non-connected members.
The level of impact of the disaster on the communities, and their resettlement status (i.e.,
resettled or not resettled) were also examined.
Results: Tighter-knit networks predicted comorbidity in non-resettled sites, but not in
resettled sites, while looser networks predicted comorbidity in resettled sites. Similar
results were obtained from high impact vs. low impact sites. In summary, our results
suggest that people are buffered against additional health conditions when they are part of
tighter networks when they have been highly impacted and/or resettled, but show greater
co-occurrence of health conditions when they are part of tighter networks in less
impacted settings. Understanding the influence of social networks on comorbidity of
physical and mental health symptoms would help plan social aspects of interventions
after a natural disaster.