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Modelling the Dynamics of Behavioural Adaptation During Epidemics
CCS Satellite |
Topic
Human behaviour and infectious diseases represent a complex intertwined dynamical system. As an epidemic unfolds, individuals may be required to comply with public health mandates, such as quarantine orders, travel restrictions, school closure, or mask mandates. Individuals may also spontaneously change behaviour, for example by reducing their face-to-face interactions or sexual contacts, as evidenced during the mpox 2022 outbreak. Shifting perceptions of risk and pandemic fatigue can reduce compliance with safe health behaviours. These behavioural changes impact the progression of the disease, which is why incorporating them into epidemiological models is crucial for accurate outbreak predictions and for guiding effective public health responses.
By recognizing the critical role of human behaviour in disease dynamics, the infectious disease modelling community has implemented several theoretical approaches to incorporate behavioural responses into epidemiological models. These approaches have demonstrated that dynamic behavioural responses can reproduce complex epidemic patterns—such as multiple waves and plateaus—as observed in real outbreaks.
Despite these efforts, the integration of behavioural mechanisms into epidemic models remains challenging due to the lack of data needed to parametrize them. While the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a wealth of behavioural data, offering an unprecedented opportunity to improve model parameterization, this data is not always directly translatable into model mechanisms. Therefore, scientific progress in modelling infectious diseases requires a collaborative effort to develop a common framework for model conceptualization, data collection and integration, and results interpretation. With this satellite, our objective is to provide an arena for such an exchange between infectious disease modellers and social scientists.
We invite presentations of research focused on the role of human behaviour in infectious diseases dynamics, including approaches from social scientists and infectious disease modellers.
Topics include:
- Modelling and integrating behavioural change: approaches to conceptualizing, simulating, and integrating human behavioural change in infectious disease models, including emerging techniques such as causal inference and artificial intelligence.
- Evaluating policy-driven control measures: studies on how behavioural changes interact with government-imposed interventions like lockdowns, travel restrictions, and information campaigns.
- Heterogeneity in behavioural responses: investigations into how diverse socioeconomic and demographic factors affect individual and collective responses to epidemics.
- Behavioural data sources: Utilization of unconventional datasets to inform models of human behaviour during disease outbreaks.
- Sociopsychological effects of interventions: research on the psychological and societal impacts of public health measures, including compliance, mental health outcomes, and public perception.
Keynote speakers
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Prof. Júlia Koltai
Computational Social Science Research Group Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences Eötvös Loránd University |
Program
The BehEpi Satellite is scheduled on Thursday, 4 September 2025 9:45–13:00, in Room 16. Discover our programme below!
Welcome & Introduction
09:45–11:10 First session
| Time | Speaker | Title |
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| 09:45–10:25 (30' talk + 10' Q&A) | Laurent Hébert-Dufresne | Paradoxes in group-level behavioral adaptation to epidemics |
| 10:25–10:40 (12' talk + 3' Q&A) | Elena D'Agnese | Advancing Behavioural Epidemiological Modelling: A Systematic Review of Endogenous Human Behaviour in Disease Spread |
| 10:40–10:55 | Elisabetta Colosi | Integrating novel discussion-based contact matrices to capture peer influence effects in coupled behaviour-epidemic models |
| 10:55–11:10 | Marco Mancastroppa | Preserving system activity while controlling epidemic spreading in adaptive temporal networks |
11:10–11:20 Coffee Break
11:20–12:45 Second session
| Time | Speaker | Title |
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| 11:20–12:00 (30' talk + 10' Q&A) | Julia Koltai | Modeling Vaccine Non-Acceptance Using Network and Digital Behavioral Data |
| 12:00–12:15 (12' talk + 3' Q&A) | Tim Van Wesemael | The role of media and neighbouring countries in the introduction of COVID-19 mitigation measures |
| 12:15–12:30 | Gergely Odor | Awareness-induced epidemic paradox in data-driven multiplex networks |
| 12:30–12:45 | Abbas K. Rizi | Social & Spatial Landscape of COVID-19 Immunity in Denmark |
Closing remarks
Attending the Satellite
All speakers and attendees need to register to the satellites part of the CCS conference by registering via the link below.
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Organizers
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Scientific coordination
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Submission guidelines
Submissions are currently closed.
Application and evaluation process
Applicants were invited to prepare a 1-page PDF (500 words max). Applications closed on 20 June 2025 at 17:00 CEST time. The organizers of the satellite sent a notice of acceptance/rejection on 30 June 2025. The assessment of the submitted abstracts took into account the scientific quality as well as the relevance of the contribution to the satellite and the broad CCS audience. Selected abstracts are granted a 15' slot for an oral presentation (12' talk + 3' Q&A).
Our sponsors
This Satellite Meeting is sponsored by: ANRS Maladies infectieuses émergentes and Horizon Europe grant VERDI (101045989).
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