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Network Analysis

Chalmers, Rebecca A. ; Cervin, Matti LU and Medvedev, Oleg N. (2025) p.115-130
Abstract

Network analysis has been recently adopted by the field of psychology to explore networks of symptoms in psychopathology, and wider interactive networks of biological, behavioral, and psychological factors influencing mental health. The network theory of psychopathology conceptualizes symptoms of mental disorder as causally connected, rather than being caused by disease or an underlying latent variable. The most common type of network analysis is based on partial correlations which estimate unique relationships between two variables while controlling for the effect of all other variables in the network on that relationship. Network analysis has the advantage over more traditional analytical methods in that it can examine multiple... (More)

Network analysis has been recently adopted by the field of psychology to explore networks of symptoms in psychopathology, and wider interactive networks of biological, behavioral, and psychological factors influencing mental health. The network theory of psychopathology conceptualizes symptoms of mental disorder as causally connected, rather than being caused by disease or an underlying latent variable. The most common type of network analysis is based on partial correlations which estimate unique relationships between two variables while controlling for the effect of all other variables in the network on that relationship. Network analysis has the advantage over more traditional analytical methods in that it can examine multiple relationships between several variables at one time, without the need to arbitrarily assign a dependent or independent variable. It allows investigation of relationships between variables as causes of psychopathology, rather than as symptoms that share a single causal factor. Network analysis can be applied to mindfulness research, examining the structure of multifaceted mindfulness models, investigating how specific mindfulness factors relate to dimensions and symptoms of mental health, and exploring how relationships in a network change after mindfulness-based interventions. This chapter provides an introduction to the theoretical framework of network analysis and its practical applications for psychological research relevant to mindfulness.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Multivariate statistics, Network analysis, Psychometrics, Research methodology
host publication
Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research
pages
16 pages
publisher
Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
external identifiers
  • scopus:105023341763
ISBN
9783031472190
9783031472183
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-47219-0_70
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c9372c32-7774-4a7f-9441-894a356e727b
date added to LUP
2026-02-03 17:28:07
date last changed
2026-02-17 18:49:50
@inbook{c9372c32-7774-4a7f-9441-894a356e727b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Network analysis has been recently adopted by the field of psychology to explore networks of symptoms in psychopathology, and wider interactive networks of biological, behavioral, and psychological factors influencing mental health. The network theory of psychopathology conceptualizes symptoms of mental disorder as causally connected, rather than being caused by disease or an underlying latent variable. The most common type of network analysis is based on partial correlations which estimate unique relationships between two variables while controlling for the effect of all other variables in the network on that relationship. Network analysis has the advantage over more traditional analytical methods in that it can examine multiple relationships between several variables at one time, without the need to arbitrarily assign a dependent or independent variable. It allows investigation of relationships between variables as causes of psychopathology, rather than as symptoms that share a single causal factor. Network analysis can be applied to mindfulness research, examining the structure of multifaceted mindfulness models, investigating how specific mindfulness factors relate to dimensions and symptoms of mental health, and exploring how relationships in a network change after mindfulness-based interventions. This chapter provides an introduction to the theoretical framework of network analysis and its practical applications for psychological research relevant to mindfulness.</p>}},
  author       = {{Chalmers, Rebecca A. and Cervin, Matti and Medvedev, Oleg N.}},
  booktitle    = {{Handbook of Assessment in Mindfulness Research}},
  isbn         = {{9783031472190}},
  keywords     = {{Multivariate statistics; Network analysis; Psychometrics; Research methodology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{115--130}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Science and Business Media B.V.}},
  title        = {{Network Analysis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47219-0_70}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-031-47219-0_70}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}