Dec
28
This figure reflects the structure of adolescent romantic and sexual relationships ocurring over an 18 month period among students attending a mid-sized high school in the US. While many students have only one partner, most students are connected into longer chains of contact. In fact, the majority of students in the school are connected into a single massive component. However, this component is not characterized by dense clusters of highly active students; rather, it is a spanning tree, composed on long sparse chains of relationships. While chain-like structures have the potential to expose large numbers of persons to disease, they are extremely fragile. Bearman, Moody, and Stovel 2004
