Brea L Perry
Biographic Data
| ID | 3581406 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brea L Perry |
| GIVEN NAMES | Brea L |
| FAMILY NAME | Perry |
| SIGNATURE | PERRY B L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Indiana University Bloomington |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 68 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 936 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 67 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Gender Differences in Trusted Sources of Information and Preventive Health Behaviors among Hispanic Immigrants: The Case of Covid-19
Later life social interactions in community spaces
Daily social interactions provide access to key social resources, yet little research has examined how these interactions vary across geographic space—particularly in later life. Using ecological momentary assessment data from a state-representative study of older adults in Indiana, we examine how interactions with different partners vary across a continuum of municipality population density. Further, we assess whether this variation is shaped by…
Social Connections Over the Life Course: Appreciating Distinct Dimensions of Social Connections
Despite growing attention to the social isolation crisis in the U.S., it remains unclear whether Americans experience a decline in social connection with age. Given the complex nature of social connections, this study argues that we need to ask a different question – which domains of social connections decline with age. Using representative egocentric network data (Person-to-Person Health Interview; N = 2,603) to measure core discussion networks …
Cognitive function and the social environment: A multilevel approach
Comparing Ecological Momentary Assessments and Time Diary Methods for Measuring Daily Life
A growing number of social scientists are using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to observe how social forces operate in real time. However, the validity of EMA for measuring features of daily life—what people are doing, where, and with whom—remains uncertain. A key challenge is the lack of consensus across studies about how validity in EMA methods is defined and assessed. The authors address that gap by comparing EMA data (n = 1,174) with t…
Resilience Through Social Connectedness and Cognition: Is Theory of Mind a Form of Enrichment for Older adults
Objective Social connectedness is a modifiable lifestyle factor that delays age-related cognitive decline. Using cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental approaches, we examined whether theory of mind—inferring what others think or feel—is a potential mechanism underlying this relationship. Methods In Study 1, 305 community-dwelling older adults participating in two different, but related, studies completed comprehensive measures of genera…
Mixed Methods for Research on Support Networks of People Experiencing Chronic Illness and Social Marginalization
Substantial research has focused on how social networks help individuals navigate the illness experience. Sociologists have begun to theorize beyond the binary of strong and weak social network ties (e.g., compartmental, elastic, and disposable ties), citing the social, economic, and health conditions that shape their formation. However, limited research has employed mixed social network methods, which we argue is especially critical for examinin…
Personal Networks and Egocentric Analysis
The Informal Safety Net: Social Network Activation among Hispanic Immigrants During Covid-19
During times of crisis, individuals may activate members of their social networks to fulfill critical support functions. However, factors that may facilitate or inhibit successful network activation are not fully understood, particularly for structurally marginalized populations. This study examines predictors of network activation among recent and established Hispanic immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, using unique, longitudi…
Social Networks, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and Emerging Adults’ Mental Health: Resiliency Through Social Bonding and Cohesion
Objectives. To assess how personal social network characteristics moderated mental health declines during the COVID-19 pandemic in emerging adults compared with other age groups. Methods. The Person to Person Health Interview Study, a representative, probability-based cohort study (n = 2485) in Indiana, collected data through face-to-face (baseline) and phone (follow-up) interviews before and during the pandemic. We used survey-weighted growth cu…
Social support in the urban safety net: Assessing tie activation among individuals with complex care needs
Activating social ties is a critical mechanism for satisfying individuals' social, emotional, and material needs. Researchers have offered a number of hypotheses around tie activation about when and why particular supporters step in to help, ranging from strategic activation via functional specificity to opportunistic mobilization. To date, few studies have examined multiple tie activation strategies in tandem. This project focuses on people faci…
Pandemic precarity: Covid ‐19's impact on Mexican and Central American immigrant families
Objective: The study examines the association of gender, parenthood, and marriage with reports of perceived pandemic precarity among Mexican and Central American immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2020) to understand predictors of vulnerability in periods of crisis. Background: Latinos/as, immigrants, parents, and women have faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family structure, along with social expectations for …
Trends in Abortion- and Contraception-Related Internet Searches After the US Supreme Court Overturned Constitutional Abortion Rights: How Much Do State Laws Matter?
The findings of this retrospective cross-sectional study suggest that changes in internet searching for terms related to reproductive health care can capture immediate population-level changes in information-seeking behavior regarding reproductive health care access. These data are critical for shaping health policy discussions
Intergroup relationships with people who use drugs: A personal network approach
Random sampling of alters from networks: A promising direction in egocentric network research
Do subjective or objective cognitive measures better predict social network type among older adults
A large literature highlights the link between cognitive function and social networks in later life. Yet there remains uncertainty about the factors driving this relationship. In the present study, we use measures of subjective cognitive decline and clinical cognitive assessments on a sample of older adults to investigate whether the relationship between cognitive function and social networks is driven by psychosocial factors. We found a consiste…
Labeling, causal attributions, and social network ties to people with mental illness
Public Stigma and Personal Networks: Confronting the Limitations of Unidimensional Measures of Social Contact
One of the most promising directions for reducing mental illness stigma lies in Allport's contact theory, which suggests that intergroup interactions reduce stigma. Here, we argue that stigmatizing attitudes are driven by the nature, magnitude, and valence of community-based ties to people with mental illness (PMI), not simply their presence. Using the 2018 General Social Survey (N = 1,113), we compare network-based measures of contact to traditi…
What kinds of social networks protect older adults' health during a pandemic? The tradeoff between preventing infection and promoting mental health
Pandemic precarity: Covid-19 is exposing and exacerbating inequalities in the American heartland
Significance The 2008 Great Recession widened socioeconomic inequities among young adults, people of color, and those without a college degree. The COVID-19 pandemic raises renewed concerns about inequality. Leveraging pre–post data from a population-representative sample of Indiana residents, we examine employment and food, housing, and financial insecurity. Comparing data before COVID-19 reached the state and during the initial stay-at-home ord…
Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis
Personal Networks: Classic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis
Social networks are ubiquitous. The science of networks has shaped how researchers and society understand the spread of disease, the precursors of loneliness, the rise of protest movements, the causes of social inequality, the influence of social media, and much more. Egocentric analysis conceives of each individual, or ego, as embedded in a personal network of alters, a community partially of their creation and nearly unique to them, whose compo…
Network recall among older adults with cognitive impairments
Personal Network Bridging Potential Across Geographic Context
These findings suggest that the communities in which older adults live condition opportunities for accessing unique network resources. Additional research adopting a network perspective is needed to provide insight into geographic disparities occurring among the older population
Social Cognitive Abilities Predict Unique Aspects of Older Adults’ Personal Social Networks
Together our findings suggest that disparate social cognitive abilities may serve unique functions, facilitating maintenance of beneficial social connections
Social network activation: The role of health discussion partners in recovery from mental illness
The Punishment Gap: School Suspension and Racial Disparities in Achievement
While scholars have studied the racial “achievement gap” for several decades, the mechanisms that produce this gap remain unclear. In this article, we propose that school discipline is a crucial, but under-examined, factor in achievement differences by race. Using a large hierarchical and longitudinal data set comprised of student and school records, we examine the impact of student suspension rates on racial differences in reading and math achie…
Suspending Progress: Collateral Consequences of Exclusionary Punishment in Public Schools
An influential literature in criminology has identified indirect "collateral consequences" of mass imprisonment. We extend this criminological perspective to the context of the U.S. education system, conceptualizing exclusionary discipline practices (i.e., out-of-school suspension) as a manifestation of intensified social control in schools. Similar to patterns of family and community decline associated with mass incarceration, we theorize that e…
Sexual Identity Distress, Social Support, and the Health of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth
Sex researchers and mental health clinicians have long recognized that the stigma surrounding homosexuality plays an important role in shaping the social psychological adjustment of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (g/l/b) people. In recent years, researchers have suggested that sexual identity- related distress may influence the physical health status of g/l/b people, primarily because of the ways these self-related feelings and beliefs impact pattern…
Functional specificity in discussion networks: The influence of general and problem-specific networks on health outcomes
Understanding Social Network Disruption: The Case of Youth in Foster Care
Relatively little existing research has examined variation in psychological distress outcomes for individuals who suddenly lose access to multiple established network ties. Adolescents placed in foster care provide a unique opportunity to examine the effects of different levels of network disruption. Some types of foster care placement provide stability and continuity while others are characterized by persistent network turnover. Using data from …
Girls Behaving Badly? Race, Gender, and Subjective Evaluation in the Discipline of African American Girls
School disciplinary processes are an important mechanism of inequality in education. Most prior research in this area focuses on the significantly higher rates of punishment among African American boys, but in this article, we turn our attention to the discipline of African American girls. Using advanced multilevel models and a longitudinal data set of detailed school discipline records, we analyze interactions between race and gender on office r…
Social Network Dynamics and Biographical Disruption: The Case of 'First-Timers' with Mental Illness
This study examines how dynamics surrounding biographical disruptions compare to more routine fluctuations in personal social networks. Using data from the Indianapolis Network Mental Health Study, the authors track changes in patients’ social networks over three years and compare them to a representative sample of persons with no self-reported mental illness. Overall, individuals at the onset of treatment report larger and more broadly functiona…
The Impact of Sheltering in Place During the Covid-19 Pandemic on Older Adults’ Social and Mental Well-Being
The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected older adults' mental health and social well-being in the short term. Potential long-term impacts are considered
Racial and Gender Discrimination in the Stress Process: Implications for African American Women's Health and Well-Being
In recent decades, sociologists have increasingly adopted an intersectionality framework to explore and explain the complex and interconnected nature of inequalities in the areas of race, class, and gender. Using an inclusion-centered approach and a sample of 204 low-socioeconomic-status (SES) African American women, the authors theorize and explore the role of racial and gender discrimination in the stress process. Analyses examine relationships…
Egocentric Network Analysis: Foundations, Methods, and Models
Egocentric network analysis is used widely across the social sciences, especially in anthropology, political science, economics, and sociology, and is increasingly being employed in communications, informatics, and business and marketing studies. Egocentric network analysis requires a unique set of data collection and analysis skills that overlap only minimally with other network methodologies. However, until now there has been no single referenc…
The Labeling Paradox: Stigma, the Sick Role, and Social Networks in Mental Illness
Although research supports the stigma and labeling perspective, empirical evidence also indicates that a social safety net remains intact for those with mental illness, recalling the classic 'sick role' concept. Here, insights from social networks theory are offered as explanation for these discrepant findings. Using data from individuals experiencing their first contact with the mental health treatment system, the effects of diagnosis and sympto…
Under the Influence of Genetics: How Transdisciplinarity Leads Us to Rethink Social Pathways to Illness
This article describes both sociological and genetic theories of illness causation and derives propositions expected under each and under a transdisciplinary theoretical frame. The authors draw propositions from three theories -- fundamental causes, social stress processes, and social safety net theories -- and tailor hypotheses to the case of alcohol dependence. Analyses of a later wave of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism re…
The Moderating Effects of Skin Color and Ethnic Identity Affirmation on Suicide Risk among Low-SES African American Women
Racism and Illicit Drug Use Among African American Women: The Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity, Affirmation, and Behavior
Though recent evidence indicates that rates of illicit drug use among African American women are now higher than the national average, little is known about the etiology of substance use in this population. In addition, the effects of racism and other cultural factors are understudied and may be unique among African American women. This cross-sectional study explores risk and protective factors for drug use among 204 African American women. More …
Coming untied? Narrative accounts of social network dynamics from first-time mental health clients
Existing research demonstrates a relationship between mental illness and social network attrition over time - a pattern attributed to dysfunctional psychosocial and interpersonal processes and rejection. Yet, according to the social network perspective, personal network dynamics naturally accompany important biographical transitions or events, suggesting that our current understanding of mechanisms underlying network instability in mental illness…
Medical Sociology and Health Services Research: Past Accomplishments and Future Policy Challenges
The rising costs and inconsistent quality of health care in the United States have raised significant questions among professionals, policy makers, and the public about the way health services are being delivered. For the past 50 years, medical sociologists have made significant contributions in improving our understanding of the nature and impact of the organizations that constitute our health care system. In this article, we discuss three centr…
Stigma and the Sexual Isolation of People with Serious Mental Illness
Sociologists have long recognized the importance of spousal or intimate partner support for individuals’ mental and physical well-being. Numerous studies, however, suggest that people with serious mental illness have considerable difficulties in finding and maintaining intimate partner relationships. Using qualitative data collected from a large sample of people with serious mental illness as part of an HIV prevention research study, this paper e…
Body weight, perceived weight stigma and mental health among women at the intersection of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status: Insights From the Modified Labelling Approach
With increasing rates of obesity in the United States, attention to life chances and psychological consequences associated with weight stigma and weight-based discrimination has also intensified. While research has demonstrated the negative effects of weight-based discrimination on mental health, little is known about whether different social groups are disproportionately vulnerable to these experiences. Drawing on the modified labelling theory, …
Examining the associations of racism, sexism, and stressful life events on psychological distress among African-American women
African-American women may be susceptible to stressful events and adverse health outcomes as a result of their distinct social location at the intersection of gender and race. Here, racism and sexism are examined concurrently using survey data from 204 African-American women residing in a southeastern U.S. urban city. Associations among racism, sexism, and stressful events across social roles and contexts (i.e., social network loss, motherhood an…
Gendering Genetics: Biological Contingencies in the Protective Effects of Social Integration for Men and Women
Evidence that social and biological processes are intertwined in producing health and human behavior is rapidly accumulating. Using a feminist approach, this research explores how gender moderates the interaction between biological processes and men's and women's behavioral and emotional responses to similar social environments. Using data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, the influence of gender, social integration, and…
What kinds of social networks protect older adults' health during a pandemic? The tradeoff between preventing infection and promoting mental health
All My Friends Are Doing It: Potentially Offensive Sexual Behavior Perpetration Within Adolescent Social Networks
The current study used social network analysis to investigate peer network and individual predictors of potentially offensive sexual behaviors among high school students. Ninth‐grade students ( n = 308; 158 girls) completed surveys assessing their perpetration of potentially offensive sexual behaviors against their peers, as well as measures of their sexualized gender stereotypes and propensity to self‐monitor. Participants selected up to eight o…
Special Education and Individualized Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Assessment of Outcomes for Students With Disabilities
This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities. A sample of 575 students from a large, urban school district were followed longitudinally as they transitioned between general and special education to evaluate whether receiving special education services was associated with improvements in academic trajectories. Using student fixed effects models of within-person c…
African American women's preventative care usage: The Role of Social Support and Racial Experiences and Attitudes
Research suggests that African Americans are less likely to utilise preventative care services than Americans of European descent, and that these patterns may contribute to racial health disparities in the United States. Despite the persistence of inequalities in preventative care utilisation, culturally relevant factors influencing the use of these gateway health services have been understudied among marginalised groups. Using a stratified sampl…
The sexual partnerships of people with serious mental illness
We compared the sexualities of people with serious mental illness and the general population using the National Health and Social Life Survey (Laumann et al., 1994) and the Indiana Mental Health Services and HIV Risk Study (Wright, 2003). We investigated whether and how the sexual behaviors and relationships of people with serious mental illness differ from the general populations and identified factors differently influencing the organization of…
Sexual Identity Distress, Social Support, and the Health of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth
Sex researchers and mental health clinicians have long recognized that the stigma surrounding homosexuality plays an important role in shaping the social psychological adjustment of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (g/l/b) people. In recent years, researchers have suggested that sexual identity- related distress may influence the physical health status of g/l/b people, primarily because of the ways these self-related feelings and beliefs impact pattern…
Understanding Social Network Disruption: The Case of Youth in Foster Care
Relatively little existing research has examined variation in psychological distress outcomes for individuals who suddenly lose access to multiple established network ties. Adolescents placed in foster care provide a unique opportunity to examine the effects of different levels of network disruption. Some types of foster care placement provide stability and continuity while others are characterized by persistent network turnover. Using data from …
Stigma and the Sexual Isolation of People with Serious Mental Illness
Sociologists have long recognized the importance of spousal or intimate partner support for individuals’ mental and physical well-being. Numerous studies, however, suggest that people with serious mental illness have considerable difficulties in finding and maintaining intimate partner relationships. Using qualitative data collected from a large sample of people with serious mental illness as part of an HIV prevention research study, this paper e…
Public Knowledge and Assessment of Child Mental Health Problems: Findings From the National Stigma Study-Children
Under the Influence of Genetics: How Transdisciplinarity Leads Us to Rethink Social Pathways to Illness
This article describes both sociological and genetic theories of illness causation and derives propositions expected under each and under a transdisciplinary theoretical frame. The authors draw propositions from three theories -- fundamental causes, social stress processes, and social safety net theories -- and tailor hypotheses to the case of alcohol dependence. Analyses of a later wave of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism re…
Functional specificity in discussion networks: The influence of general and problem-specific networks on health outcomes
Medical Sociology and Health Services Research: Past Accomplishments and Future Policy Challenges
The rising costs and inconsistent quality of health care in the United States have raised significant questions among professionals, policy makers, and the public about the way health services are being delivered. For the past 50 years, medical sociologists have made significant contributions in improving our understanding of the nature and impact of the organizations that constitute our health care system. In this article, we discuss three centr…
The Labeling Paradox: Stigma, the Sick Role, and Social Networks in Mental Illness
Although research supports the stigma and labeling perspective, empirical evidence also indicates that a social safety net remains intact for those with mental illness, recalling the classic 'sick role' concept. Here, insights from social networks theory are offered as explanation for these discrepant findings. Using data from individuals experiencing their first contact with the mental health treatment system, the effects of diagnosis and sympto…
Blinded to science: Gender differences in the effects of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on academic and science attitudes among sixth graders
Little research has examined whether the effects of race or socioeconomic status (SES) on educational attitudes differ by gender, limiting knowledge of unique vulnerabilities occurring at the intersection of multiple social statuses. Using data from 182 sixth-graders, interactions between gender, race/ethnicity, and SES in predicting educational aspirations, persistence, views of science, and educational self-efficacy are examined. African Americ…
Too Much of a Good Thing? Psychosocial Resources, Gendered Racism, and Suicidal Ideation among Low Socioeconomic Status African American Women
Very few studies have examined predictors of suicidal ideation among African American women. Consequently, we have a poor understanding of the combinations of culturally specific experiences and psychosocial processes that may constitute risk and protective factors for suicide in this population. Drawing on theories of social inequality, medical sociology, and the stress process, we explore the adverse impact of gendered racism experiences and po…
Racism and Illicit Drug Use Among African American Women: The Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity, Affirmation, and Behavior
Though recent evidence indicates that rates of illicit drug use among African American women are now higher than the national average, little is known about the etiology of substance use in this population. In addition, the effects of racism and other cultural factors are understudied and may be unique among African American women. This cross-sectional study explores risk and protective factors for drug use among 204 African American women. More …
Coming untied? Narrative accounts of social network dynamics from first-time mental health clients
Existing research demonstrates a relationship between mental illness and social network attrition over time - a pattern attributed to dysfunctional psychosocial and interpersonal processes and rejection. Yet, according to the social network perspective, personal network dynamics naturally accompany important biographical transitions or events, suggesting that our current understanding of mechanisms underlying network instability in mental illness…
Social Network Dynamics and Biographical Disruption: The Case of 'First-Timers' with Mental Illness
This study examines how dynamics surrounding biographical disruptions compare to more routine fluctuations in personal social networks. Using data from the Indianapolis Network Mental Health Study, the authors track changes in patients’ social networks over three years and compare them to a representative sample of persons with no self-reported mental illness. Overall, individuals at the onset of treatment report larger and more broadly functiona…
The Moderating Effects of Skin Color and Ethnic Identity Affirmation on Suicide Risk among Low-SES African American Women
A Paradox of Bias: Racial Differences in Forensic Psychiatric Diagnosis and Determinations of Criminal Responsibility
Racial and Gender Discrimination in the Stress Process: Implications for African American Women's Health and Well-Being
In recent decades, sociologists have increasingly adopted an intersectionality framework to explore and explain the complex and interconnected nature of inequalities in the areas of race, class, and gender. Using an inclusion-centered approach and a sample of 204 low-socioeconomic-status (SES) African American women, the authors theorize and explore the role of racial and gender discrimination in the stress process. Analyses examine relationships…
Examining the associations of racism, sexism, and stressful life events on psychological distress among African-American women
African-American women may be susceptible to stressful events and adverse health outcomes as a result of their distinct social location at the intersection of gender and race. Here, racism and sexism are examined concurrently using survey data from 204 African-American women residing in a southeastern U.S. urban city. Associations among racism, sexism, and stressful events across social roles and contexts (i.e., social network loss, motherhood an…
All My Friends Are Doing It: Potentially Offensive Sexual Behavior Perpetration Within Adolescent Social Networks
The current study used social network analysis to investigate peer network and individual predictors of potentially offensive sexual behaviors among high school students. Ninth‐grade students ( n = 308; 158 girls) completed surveys assessing their perpetration of potentially offensive sexual behaviors against their peers, as well as measures of their sexualized gender stereotypes and propensity to self‐monitor. Participants selected up to eight o…
Social network activation: The role of health discussion partners in recovery from mental illness
Suspending Progress: Collateral Consequences of Exclusionary Punishment in Public Schools
An influential literature in criminology has identified indirect "collateral consequences" of mass imprisonment. We extend this criminological perspective to the context of the U.S. education system, conceptualizing exclusionary discipline practices (i.e., out-of-school suspension) as a manifestation of intensified social control in schools. Similar to patterns of family and community decline associated with mass incarceration, we theorize that e…
Symptoms, stigma, or secondary social disruption: Three mechanisms of network dynamics in severe mental illness
Research has documented social network instability among people with serious mental illness focusing on (1) psychiatric symptoms that interfere with social skills and interaction and (2) stigma, discrimination, and social rejection. However, the social network consequences of disruptive events that often accompany onset of serious mental illness (e.g., divorce, job loss, and residential instability) are seldom considered. In this study, the relat…
African American women's preventative care usage: The Role of Social Support and Racial Experiences and Attitudes
Research suggests that African Americans are less likely to utilise preventative care services than Americans of European descent, and that these patterns may contribute to racial health disparities in the United States. Despite the persistence of inequalities in preventative care utilisation, culturally relevant factors influencing the use of these gateway health services have been understudied among marginalised groups. Using a stratified sampl…
At the intersection of lay and professional social networks: How community ties shape perceptions of mental health treatment providers
Community-based social networks are critical for understanding facilitators of and barriers to effective networks inside treatment, including the therapeutic alliance. Implications for community-based systems of care are discussed in the context of the USA and global patterns of deinstitutionalization and community reintegration
Misalignment of Career and Educational Aspirations in Middle School: Differences across Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status
Misalignment of educational and career goals (i.e., educational aspirations expressed are inadequate for attaining one’s desired occupation) is associated with lower educational attainment and a lack of college readiness, and may contribute to persistent educational and employment disparities. Drawing on data from 249 sixth graders in low-income schools, this research examines misalignment between educational and career aspirations across racial …
Psychology (55 works) · Sociology (38 works) · Social Psychology (33 works) · Medicine (31 works) · Political science (24 works) · Psychiatry (23 works) · Social Psychology (22 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (21 works) · Mental health (21 works) · Developmental psychology (18 works)