Mapping the Social Network Structure and Composition of Black Individuals With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Conditions.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to describe the social networks of Black individuals with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions and understand the clustering of health-related behaviors to inform future community-based, peer-led interventions.

METHODS

We used an adapted Personal Network Survey for Clinical Research (PERSNET) to map the personal social networks of Black individuals with rheumatic conditions in Boston and Chicago. We used egocentric network analyses to quantify network composition and descriptive statistics and Welch's two-sample t-tests to assess network characteristics and behavioral concordance between participants and their network members.

RESULTS

We mapped the social networks of 40 individuals with rheumatic conditions in Boston and Chicago. All participants self-identified as Black, with six indicating Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. One participant self-identified as male. Networks had a median size of 10, with 54% of all possible ties present and an average of 5 structurally distinct connections within each network. Boston networks had a larger proportion of kin (71%) compared to those in Chicago (40%). There was greater diversity in sex and education within Boston networks. Chicago networks displayed more balanced strong and weak ties and higher prevalence of health problems within networks. Smoking and drinking behaviors clustered within networks across both sites, which may reflect patterns of behavioral homophily or social influence.

CONCLUSION

Differences in network density, constraint, and diversity highlight structural and relational patterns that may influence how health behaviors develop. They also reveal network configurations that position individuals to act as bridges, introducing new information and behaviors into communities where medical mistrust and systemic inequities undermine health messaging.