Social epidemiology and complex system dynamic modelling as applied to health behaviour and drug use research
Open accessAbstract
A social epidemiologic perspective considers factors at multiple levels of influence (e.g., social networks, neighbourhoods, states) that may individually or jointly affect health and health behaviour. This provides a useful lens through which to understand the production of health behaviours in general, and drug use in particular. However, the analytic models that are commonly applied in population health sciences limit the inference we are able to draw about the determination of health behaviour by factors, likely interrelated, across levels of influence. Complex system dynamic modelling techniques may be useful in enabling the adoption of a social epidemiologic approach in health behaviour and drug use research. We provide an example of a model that aims to incorporate factors at multiple levels of influence in understanding drug dependence. We conclude with suggestions about future directions in the field and how such models may serve as virtual laboratories for policy experiments aimed at improving health behaviour.
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Effectively studying how a syndemic operates requires methodological approaches that allow for the simultaneous exploration of diseases and the social conditions out of which they emerge.
“Effectively studying how a syndemic operates requires taking methodological approaches that allow for the simultaneous exploration of diseases and the social conditions out of which they emerge. 10”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Galea, S., Hall, C., & Kaplan, G. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Galea, Sandro
- ORCID
- Galea, Sandro
- Venue
- International Journal of Drug Policy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-05
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 209-216
- ISSN
- 0955-3959 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2782722
- OpenAlex
- W2154272091
- Cited by
- 124
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2025: 7 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 5.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- International Journal of Drug Policy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH078152)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA 017642, DA022123, R01DA022720, R01DA017642, R01DA022123)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD047861, HD047861)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Complex Systems and Decision Making
- Keywords
- social epidemiology, health behavior, drug use, drug addiction, social networks, neighborhood effects, virtual laboratory
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Models, Psychological, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Social Environment, Models, Statistical, Health Behavior, Substance-Related Disorders
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