TY - JOUR
T1 - Communicating Social Support in Computer-mediated Contexts
T2 - A Meta-analytic Review of Content Analyses Examining Support Messages Shared Online among Individuals Coping with Illness
AU - Rains, Stephen A.
AU - Peterson, Emily B.
AU - Wright, Kevin B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 National Communication Association.
PY - 2015/10/2
Y1 - 2015/10/2
N2 - Research on social support during the past two decades has been marked by a 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 41 content 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 as well as among content analyses focusing on health conditions with a greater potential for loss in the form of 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 used as a resource for coping with illness.
AB - Research on social support during the past two decades has been marked by a 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 41 content 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 as well as among content analyses focusing on health conditions with a greater potential for loss in the form of 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 used as a resource for coping with illness.
KW - Computer-mediated Support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84945442405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84945442405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03637751.2015.1019530
DO - 10.1080/03637751.2015.1019530
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84945442405
VL - 82
SP - 403
EP - 430
JO - Communication Monographs
JF - Communication Monographs
SN - 0363-7751
IS - 4
ER -