Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Communities and Technologies 2009
DOI: 10.1145/1556460.1556466
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Supportive communication, sense of virtual community and health outcomes in online infertility groups

Abstract: Women are turning to online health groups to deal with the stresses and complications of infertility. Online groups may provide a resource that is potentially absent in their face-to-face communities. This study examines how the sense of virtual community (SOVC) that develops in these groups serves as a buffer between perceived stress and physical health symptoms. A sample of 122 women from two virtual communities completed an online survey. Results show that observing the exchange of emotional support was pos… Show more

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Cited by 50 publications
(30 citation statements)
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“…In this sense, offline social support is gradually turning into social supportive communication in the online context [32,44,45]. Online social support commonly refers to information exchange and emotional interactions within a virtual space, and therefore, informational support and emotional support are regarded as two major approaches for providing online supports [46,47,48]. In this study, we believe that informational and emotional support will offer relational benefits to the involved parties, and thus help to facilitate relationship building and sustaining in social commerce context.…”
Section: Social Supportmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In this sense, offline social support is gradually turning into social supportive communication in the online context [32,44,45]. Online social support commonly refers to information exchange and emotional interactions within a virtual space, and therefore, informational support and emotional support are regarded as two major approaches for providing online supports [46,47,48]. In this study, we believe that informational and emotional support will offer relational benefits to the involved parties, and thus help to facilitate relationship building and sustaining in social commerce context.…”
Section: Social Supportmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Previous studies of online health forums mostly focused on information seeking [26], [35], emotional support [42] and seeking and coordinating help [36], rather than on transformation of ideas, negotiation of meaning, and resolution of conflicts. A recent study by Huh and Ackerman of another diabetes forum, dLife.com, specifically examined individuals' interactions around seeking and receiving help [18].…”
Section: Information Sharing Within Online Health Forumsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Internet-based support groups for both patients and caregivers have also received substantial research attention [e.g., 2,5,19,20]. These online support groups offer participants a place for social support and sharing of knowledge.…”
Section: Motivation and Backgroundmentioning
confidence: 99%