Title Page
Contents
ABSTRACT 9
I. INTRODUCTION 10
1. Statement of the Problem 10
2. Purpose of the Study 12
II. LITERATURE REVIEW 14
1. Theories of Social Networks and Health 14
2. Empirical Works 22
3. Literature Evaluation 28
III. RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES 30
1. Conceptualization 30
2. Research Model 41
3.Hypotheses 43
IV. RESEARCH DESIGN 47
1. Measures 47
2. Population and Sampling 52
3. Analytical Procedures 53
V. RESULTS 55
1. Descriptive Statistics of the Variables 55
2. Logistic Regressions for Self-rated Health 58
VI. CONCLUSION 66
1. Summary of Empirical Findings 67
2. Policy Implications 70
3. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Studies 72
REFERENCES 74
Table 2-1. The Summary of Studies on Effects of Social Networks on Health. 26
Table 4-1. Summarized Measures of Dependent variables, Independent variables and Controlled Variables 51
Table 5-1. Summary of Descriptive Statistics for Independent and Dependent Variables 57
Table 5-2. Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of good/very good health using logistic analyses 60
Table 5-3. Model 1. The Effects of Individual Level Variables on Self-Rated Health 61
Table 5-4. Model 2. The Effects of Social Networks on Self-Rated Health 62
Table 5-5. Summary of Findings 65
Figure 3-1. Research Model 42