BiotechMashup

(University of California - San Diego) Recent studies have shown that behaviors such as happiness, obesity, smoking and altruism are "contagious" within adult social networks. In other words, your behavior not only influences your friends, but also their friends and so on. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University have taken this a step farther and found that the spread of one behavior in social networks influences the spread of another behavior, adolescent drug use.

Troubled sleep is a commonly cited consequence of adolescent drug use, but it has rarely been studied as a cause. Nor have there been any studies of the extent to which sleep behavior can spread in social networks from person to person to person.

Most parents recognize that the influence of peers on their children's behavior is an undeniable fact. But, just how far do these influences reach? A new study finds that adolescents are more likely to start drinking alcoholic beverages when they have large social networks of friends.

(Elsevier Health Sciences) Most parents recognize that the influence of peers on their children's behavior is an undeniable fact. But, just how far do these influences reach? A study published in the September/October issue of Academic Pediatrics reports that adolescents are more likely to start drinking alcoholic beverages when they have large social networks of friends.

A new study of childhood obesity in the United States has found that some social factors, such as the presence of friends, may put overweight youths at greater risk of overeating.

Information in social networks moves at an unexpectedly slow pace, with the exception of some mass events. This is one of the main conclusions of a study carried out by researchers in Spain and IBM, who analyze how the behaviour of internauts influences the spread of information through Internet.

(University at Buffalo) A new study of childhood obesity in the United States has found that some social factors, such as the presence of friends, may put overweight youths at greater risk of overeating.

by Karlo Hock, Nina H. Fefferman

by Kun Zhao, Márton Karsai, Ginestra Bianconi