BACKGROUND:
The
prevalence of depression among drug users is high. It has been recognized that
drug use behaviors can be influenced and spread through social networks.
OBJECTIVES:
We
investigated the directional relationship between social network factors and
depressive symptoms among a sample of inner-city residents in Baltimore, MD.
METHODS:
We
performed a longitudinal study of four-wave data collected from a network-based
HIV/STI prevention intervention for women and network members, consisting of
both men and women. Our primary outcome and exposure were depression using CESD
scale and social network characteristics, respectively. Linear-mixed model with
clustering adjustment was used to account for both repeated measurement and
network design.
RESULTS:
Of the
746 participants, those who had high levels of depression tended to be female,
less educated, homeless, smokers, and did not have a main partner. In the
univariate longitudinal model, larger size of drug network was significantly
associated with depression. This relationship held
after controlling for age, gender, homeless in the past 6 months, college
education, having a main partner, cigarette smoking, perceived health, and
social support network. In the univariate mixed model
using depression to predict size of drug network, the data suggested that
depression was associated with larger size of drug network and the same relation held in multivariate model.
CONCLUSIONS:
The
results suggest that larger size of drug network is a risk factor for
depression, and vice versa. Further intervention strategies to reduce
depression should address social networks factors.
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- 1 Department of Health , Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore , Maryland , USA.
- 2 Department of Epidemiology , Columbia University , New York , New York , USA.
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