Association between centrality and flourishing trait: analyzing student co-occurrence networks drawn from dining activities

TL;DR

This study explores how students' positions in offline social networks, derived from dining activity data, relate to their mental well-being, revealing that centrality correlates with increased flourishing traits.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of offline social networks from dining data and links network centrality to mental health improvements.

Findings

Node centrality positively correlates with flourishing trait enhancement.

Offline social network analysis can inform mental health support strategies.

Network topology changes over time reflect mental well-being shifts.

Abstract

Comprehending the association between social capabilities and individual psychological traits is paramount for educational administrators. Presently, many studies heavily depend on online questionnaires and self-reported data, while analysis of the connection between offline social networks and mental health status remains scarce. By leveraging a public dataset encompassing on-campus dining activities over 21 weeks, we establish student co-occurrence networks and closely observe the changes in network topology over time. Empirical analysis shows that the node centralities of the student co-occurrence networks exhibit significantly positive correlation with the enhancement of the flourishing trait within the field of mental well-being. Our findings offer potential guidance for assisting students in maintaining a positive mental health status.