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. 2025 May 20;20(5):e0320904.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0320904. eCollection 2025.

Modeling and analysis of infectious diseases based on behavioral game theory on two-layered networks under media coverage

Jianrong Wang  1 , Rong Zeng  2 , Xinghua Chang  3
Affiliations

Modeling and analysis of infectious diseases based on behavioral game theory on two-layered networks under media coverage

Jianrong Wang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The spread of infectious diseases poses significant threats to public health, the economy, and society as a whole. Despite governmental control measures over individual behavior, the public might still be influenced by factors such as costs, expected benefits, and the behavior of others, leading to incomplete adherence to disease control measures. Therefore, this paper proposes a behavioral game theory based infectious disease model on two-layer networks. First, considering the dynamic interaction between individual awareness behavior and disease spreading, a two-layer coupled network of individual behavioral awareness and disease spreading is established. Second, game theory is used to describe the impact of relevant factors on individual awareness behavior. The first layer represents the individual protective behavior game layer, while the second layer represents the disease spreading layer. Government intervention in individual behavior is also considered in the two-layer network model, according to the situation of infectious disease spreading, a threshold model is introduced to control individual protective behavior. Finally, MMCA is used to analyze the disease spreading threshold, and the proportion of the final population state and the spreading threshold under different model parameters are analyzed. The results show that by reducing personal protective costs, increasing individual attention to disease information, and enhancing governmental adjustments to disease control measures, the outbreak threshold of disease spreading can be effectively increased.

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Conflict of interest statement

No authors have competing interests.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Schematic diagram of the disease model on a two-layer network.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Behavioral game theory payoff matrix.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Stability of individuals in different states over time.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Comparison of MMCA and MC analysis results.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Proportions of States R, M, U at k = 0.2,0.5,0.8.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Proportions of states R, M, U at σ=0.2,0.5,0.8.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Proportions of states R, M, U at c=0.2,0.5,0.8.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Proportions of States R, M, U at α=0.5,1,1.5.
Fig 9
Fig 9. Proportions of states R, M, U at ζ=0.2,0.5,0.8.
Fig 10
Fig 10. Proportions of states R, M, U at θ=0.2,0.5,0.8.
Fig 11
Fig 11. Proportions of States R, M, U at δ=0.2,0.5,0.8.
Fig 12
Fig 12. Phase Diagrams of R-state Proportions under Different ζ, k, σ.
Fig 13
Fig 13. Corresponding βc under different α,c,σ,θ parameters.
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