Working together: A network analysis of a South Carolina program for pregnant and parenting teens

Background: Prevention and support programs for pregnant and parenting teens must address a broad array of social and environmental factors, and often involve community partners and organizations from multiple disciplines.  We examined the nature of these partnerships and their organizational relationships as part of an ongoing evaluation of a parenting and pregnant teen support program in a single South Carolina county.

 Methods: Using two-stage purposeful sampling, we identified the lead organization and their self-reported community partners.  We administered a web-based survey grounded in social network theory and comprised of questions related to number and length of relationships, organizational characteristics, and attributes of trust and value.  We described the partnership network’s size and cohesiveness, and measured individual characteristics of the in-network actors.

Results: All partners participated in the survey.  The size of the one-component network was 19 and diameter was three.  In measures of undirected network cohesion, average network degree (number of ties) was 11; density (ratio of possible to actual links) was 61%; connectedness was one.  Reciprocity of directed relationships was 38%.  Individual partners differed notably in their potential to influence or be influenced by others in the network, and to act as information or resource brokers.

Conclusions: Social network methods are useful to identify systems-level attributes of partnerships and have the potential to measure changes in network structures and partnership attributes over the duration of program implementation.  When paired with specific program outcomes, these methods can enhance program evaluation efforts and inform future planning.