Network Interventions for Changing Physical Activity Behaviour in Preadolescents.
Nature Human Behaviour 2019 ; 2: 778-787.
Proestakis A, di Sorrentino EP, Brown HE, van Sluijs E, Mani A, Caldeira S, Herrmann B
DOI : 10.1038/s41562-018-0436-y
PubMed ID : 30886902
PMCID : PMC6420114
URL : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-018-0436-y
Abstract
Network interventions can help achieve behavioural change by inducing peer-pressure in the network. However, inducing peer-pressure without considering the structure of the existing social network may render the intervention ineffective or weaker. In a 7-week school-based field experiment using preadolescents' physical activity (PA) as a proxy for estimating behavioural change, we test the hypothesis that boys' and girls' distinct networks are susceptible to different social incentives. We run three different social-rewards schemes, in which classmates' rewards depend on the PA of two friends either reciprocally (directly or indirectly) or collectively. Compared to a random-rewards control, social-rewards schemes had an overall significantly positive effect on PA (51.8% increase), with females being more receptive to the direct reciprocity scheme (76.4%) and males to team (collective) rewards (131.5%). Differences in the sex-specific sub-networks can explain these findings. Network interventions adapted to the network-specific characteristics may constitute a powerful tool for behavioural change.
