With measures specific to the online cancer environment and data from an online survey of cancer patients, the current study finds support for the following model: asynchronous online communication Ǟ social interaction Ǟ social support Ǟ positive health outcomes in terms of stress, depression, and coping. The findings suggest that the Internet can be a positive cyber venue for cancer patients as they confront illness, undergo treatment, and seek out support. 587

This paper argues for enhanced consideration of third variables in interactivity research and proposes a "mediated moderation" model to bring increased sophistication to bear on the study of information technology effects. Interactivity, a central phenomenon in new media research, is an elusive concept that has enduringly intrigued and confused scholars. Extant conceptualizations have produced incomplete causal models and have generally ignored the effect of third variables. We conceptualize interactivity as technological attributes of mediated environments that enable reciprocal communication or information exchange, which afford interaction between communication technology and users, or between users through technology. Specifying roles for mediator and moderator variables, this paper proposes a model that incorporates interactive attributes, user perceptions (mediators such as perceived interactivity), individual differences (moderators such as Internet self-efficacy), and media effects measures to systematically examine the definition, process, and consequences of interactivity on users. Lastly, statistical procedures for testing mediated moderation are described.An enduring question and major inconsistency in interactivity research is how to best isolate the concept for systematic investigation. Various definitions and multi-dimensional models have been proposed but current approaches attempt to either mix structural characteristics of media systems, message exchanges, and user perceptions into a single multidimensional construct, or identify one of these factors as the central locus of interactivity (Sundar, 2004). Not surprisingly, the empirical research on interactivity has yielded scattered findings and has been unable to ascertain consistent patterns of effects on users. After three decades of analysis and investigation, we scarcely know what interactivity really is, let alone what MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY, 9,

This paper argues for a clearer conceptualization of media stimuli in experimental research and identifies 3 issues impeding our understanding of message processing: (a) assumptions bolstered by manipulation checks about homogeneity of response to media stimuli, (b) conflation of 2 different classes of variables-media attributes and psychological states, and (c) discrepancies between the conceptual model and operational-level hypotheses used to test research questions. To provide a more comprehensive framework for investigating media effects in experimental research, we argue for a clearer conceptual separation between message attributes and user perceptions and apply a mediation model of information processing to overcome the limitations of conventional approaches. Subjected to 2 empirical tests involving the assessment of Web-based media, the model finds an increase in explained variance in each instance.

This article considers the impact of internet use and online social capital on the health outcomes of supporters of cancer patients. Structural equation modeling offers support for the following three-step model: internet use online social capital stress and depression. Specifically, asynchronous online communication and offline communication stimulated by online communication had direct positive paths to social interaction and social support which, in turn, were both predictive of healthier or lower levels of stress and depression. These findings support previous research, which has indicated positive associations between mass media use and social capital and between social capital and health outcomes. In contrast, internet information-seeking by information type had a negative direct path to social support and negative indirect paths to stress and depression, indicating that information-seeking online has a detrimental impact on social capital and the health indicators.

Enjoyment of frightening content is a paradoxical issue in communication research. Revising Zillmann’s model of suspense, we propose a three-factor model examining the audience appeal of horror content in a virtual reality (VR) survival horror game. In a laboratory study, participants played a VR horror game. The results show significant effects of the three-way interaction among horror self-efficacy, physiological arousal, and fear on enjoyment and future intentions to play similar games. Horror self-efficacy interacts with fear to affect enjoyment only among high-arousal participants. Among high-fear participants, higher horror self-efficacy leads to significantly greater enjoyment than lower horror self-efficacy. We measured enjoyment through self-reported ratings, future intentions to play similar games, and the behavioral choice of subsequent games to demonstrate the appeal of horror content. Horror self-efficacy in coping with mediated fright is the key to explaining the conditional positive association of fear and enjoyment in the gaming context.