Communicating Social Support in Computer-Mediated Contexts Among Individuals Coping With Illness: A Meta-Analytic Review of Content Analyses Examining Support Messages Shared Online

• In Event: Online Social Support and Health

Abstract

Research on social support during the past two decades has been marked by the growth in scholarship examining supportive communication in computer-mediated contexts among individuals coping with illness. In an effort to summarize and advance this body of research, a meta-analytic review of content analyses was conducted. Across the 41content analyses examining social support messages shared in health-related contexts online, informational and emotional support messages were most prevalent. Additionally, the prevalence of particular types of support messages varied based on several stressor dimensions relevant to illness. Nurturant forms of support were more common among content analyses examining health conditions likely to threaten personal relationships and involve loss in the form death. Action-facilitating types of support were more common among content analyses examining more chronic conditions. The findings from this project offer insights about the nuanced ways in which computer-mediated communication is being used as resource for coping with illness.

Authors

• Steve Rains, U of Arizona

• Kevin B. Wright, George Mason U

• Emily Peterson, George Mason U