Mark C. Pachucki

About

Mark C. Pachucki is a sociologist affiliated with the Department of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research investigates phenomena at the intersection of social determinants of health, social network dynamics, and culture. He employs perspectives from computational social science to better understand how the structure and meanings of relationships influence individuals' health behaviors, social status, and disparities at both interpersonal and population levels. Pachucki was trained under an interdisciplinary social science model that emphasizes a 'right to health' and considers many of the cumulative disadvantages arising from intersecting group-based differences as unjust and avoidable.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medicine
• Demography
• Sociology
• Gerontology

Selected publications

• Timing of puberty in boys and girls: Implications for population health

  SSM - Population Health · 2020-02-04 · 138 citations

  articleOpen access

  Puberty is marked by substantial increases and emerging sex differences in psychological disorders and risky behaviors. However, few studies have examined these effects beyond adolescence, and the previous literature has been dominated by samples of White girls. The current study examines the broadest known set of health sequelae related to traditional pubertal markers and peer-relative pubertal timing in a representative sample of 14,545 U.S. youth from the National Longitudinal Study of Adoles…

  PublisherDOI

• Social connections and the healthfulness of food choices in an employee population

  Nature Human Behaviour · 2021-04-22 · 49 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evolution of a Coalition Network during a Whole-of-Community Intervention to Prevent Early Childhood Obesity

  Childhood Obesity · 2021-03-24 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background: Community coalitions often lead and coordinate “whole-of-community” childhood obesity prevention interventions. A growing body of work suggests that coalition network ties, which facilitate transmission of information and advocacy, may be a key part of how such leadership operates. This study provides an understanding of the structure of coalition networks and how this structure changes over time. Methods: We administered semiannual network surveys during a pilot whole-of-community i…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• “Defriending” in a polarized age: Political and racial homophily and tie dissolution

  Social Networks · 2023-02-16 · 15 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Social isolation and depression as risk factors for weight loss of 5kg or more among older Korean adults

  PLoS ONE · 2024-03-13 · 11 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Given a well-known overlapping prevalence of social isolation with loneliness and depression among older adults, this study aimed to contextually investigate the relationship of these constructs with weight loss of more than 5kg in a year, with a special focus on the intersection of living alone and marital dissolution as key dimensions of isolation. The data were obtained from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) from 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018, with an adult sample…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Social Network Analysis of Puberty, Activity Behaviors, and Health Disparities

  NIH · $453k · 2018–2022

• A taste for tastes?The spread of food choices & health behaviors in networks

  NIH · $30k · 2009–2010

Frequent coauthors

• Matthew Harding

  University of California, Irvine

  16 shared

• Michał Stokłosa

  University of Illinois Chicago

  13 shared

• Christina D. Economos

  Tufts University

  13 shared

• Amy L. Yaroch

  13 shared

• Kerem Shuval

  Cooper Institute

  13 shared

• Jeffrey Drope

  Johns Hopkins University

  13 shared

• Erin Hennessy

  Tufts University

  11 shared

• Nicholas A. Christakis

  Yale University

  9 shared

Similar researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Joshua Braunh-60
• Arindrajit Dubeh-36
• Erin Bakerh-34