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‹nr.› Het begint met een idee
in Online Support Groups? Kevin B. Wright / Erik van Ingen - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
in Online Support Groups? Kevin B. Wright / Erik van Ingen - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
What Determines the Quality of Relationships in Online Support Groups? Kevin B. Wright / Erik van Ingen (e.j.van.ingen@vu.nl) nr. Het begint met een idee PUZZLE OF ONLINE SUPPORT Social support needs strong ties? > (High) Trust,
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‹nr.› Het begint met een idee 3 Het begint met een idee 3 Faculty / department / title presentation
PUZZLE OF ONLINE SUPPORT
- Social support needs strong ties?
> (High) Trust, Effort
- Relations online support groups
short-lived, weak (?) Yet…
- Online support groups very
popular (> offline support groups)
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‹nr.› Het begint met een idee
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Can health-related online support
groups facilitate high-quality relationships?
- What determines perceived quality of
- nline relationships?
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Three dimensions:
- Supportiveness
> Perceived support by other person > “To what extent can you count on this person to listen to you …?”
- Depth
> Closeness, significance > “How significant is this relationship in your life?”
- (Conflict)
> Negative emotions caused by other person
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PIERCE ET AL. (1991) QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIPS (QOR) INVENTORY
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Two central (relational) factors:
- Perceived similarity
> Similarity -> Inter-personal attraction > Homophily -> Strengthens ties > Empathy, sense of belonging
- Self-disclosure (extent writing online)
> OSD -> Quality of relationships > Emotional intensity -> strength tie
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WHAT DETERMINES ONLINE QOR?
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Also individual characteristics:
- Willingness to Communicate about Health (WTCH)
- Weak-Tie Network Preference (WTNP)
- Age
- Women
Some likely mediated by relational factors, e.g.
- WTCH -> Extent writing -> QoR
- Age -> Extent writing -> QoR
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WHAT DETERMINES ONLINE QOR?
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- 126 participants online support groups
E.g. alcoholism, cancer, drug abuse, disordered eating, HIV, etc.
- 10 items supportiveness / depth dimensions QoR scale
“How significant are your relationships with the members of your online support in your life?” (depth)
Responses: (1) “Not at all”; (2) “A little”; (3) “Quite a bit”; (4) “Very much”.
- Explanatory variables
Perceived Attitudinal Similarity: 4 items, e.g. “The people I talk to most frequently in my online support group are similar to me”
Extent Writing Messages (1 item)
WTCH: 10 items, e.g. “I am comfortable talking about my health with a wide variety of people”
WTNP: 15 items, e.g. “It is less risky to discuss my problems with people who are not as intimate with me as close friends and family members”
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RESEARCH DESIGN
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Depth Supportiveness
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RESULTS
Not at all A bit Quite a bit Very much Not at all A bit Quite a bit Very much 2.66 3.01
Pierce et al (1991): m=2.87 for friendships Pierce et al (1991): m=3.28 for friendships
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
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RESULTS
Figure 2 Intermediation model of QOR
RMSEA .077; CFI .932; TLI .913
- Note. WTCH= Willingness To Communicate about Health; WTNP= Weak-Tie support Network
- Preference. The measurement part of QOR is not shown. All path coefficients are significant at the p<.05
level (two-tailed).
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Conclusions: The puzzle of online support
- Online relationships fairly high quality
- QoR online support groups one dimensional
- Similarity and self-disclosure driving factors
Similarity attitudes not background
- Also explain individual differences
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