TY  - JOUR
AU  - Cao, Yiding
AU  - Rajendran, Suraj
AU  - Sundararajan, Prathic
AU  - Law, Royal
AU  - Bacon, Sarah
AU  - Sumner, Steven A
AU  - Masuda, Naoki
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/5/30
TI  - Web-Based Social Networks of Individuals With Adverse Childhood Experiences: Quantitative Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e45171
VL  - 25
KW  - adverse childhood experience
KW  - ACE
KW  - social networks
KW  - Twitter
KW  - Reddit
KW  - childhood
KW  - abuse
KW  - neglect
KW  - violence
KW  - substance use
KW  - coping strategy
KW  - coping
KW  - interpersonal connection
KW  - web-based connection
KW  - behavior
KW  - social connection
KW  - resilience
AB  - Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include abuse and neglect and various household challenges such as exposure to intimate partner violence and substance use in the home, can have negative impacts on the lifelong health of affected individuals. Among various strategies for mitigating the adverse effects of ACEs is to enhance connectedness and social support for those who have experienced them. However, how the social networks of those who experienced ACEs differ from the social networks of those who did not is poorly understood. Objective: In this study, we used Reddit and Twitter data to investigate and compare social networks between individuals with and without ACE exposure. Methods: We first used a neural network classifier to identify the presence or absence of public ACE disclosures in social media posts. We then analyzed egocentric social networks comparing individuals with self-reported ACEs with those with no reported history. Results: We found that, although individuals reporting ACEs had fewer total followers in web-based social networks, they had higher reciprocity in following behavior (ie, mutual following with other users), a higher tendency to follow and be followed by other individuals with ACEs, and a higher tendency to follow back individuals with ACEs rather than individuals without ACEs. Conclusions: These results imply that individuals with ACEs may try to actively connect with others who have similar previous traumatic experiences as a positive connection and coping strategy. Supportive interpersonal connections on the web for individuals with ACEs appear to be a prevalent behavior and may be a way to enhance social connectedness and resilience in those who have experienced ACEs. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45171
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/45171
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37252791
DO  - 10.2196/45171
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/45171
ER  -