Objectives-To examine the effects of exchanging treatment information within computermediated breast cancer support groups on emotional well-being, and to explore whether this relationship is moderated by health self-efficacy.Methods-Sample: 177 breast cancer patients using an electronic Health (eHealth) program with discussion group. Measure: expression and reception of treatment information; emotional wellbeing scale (0, 4 months). Analyses: hierarchical regression.Results-Effects of expression and reception of treatment information on emotional well-being were significantly greater for those who have higher health self-efficacy. Conclusions-Resultsconditionally support prior research finding positive effects of treatment information exchanges among breast cancer patients. Such exchanges had a positive impact on emotional well-being for those with higher health self-efficacy, but they had a negative influence for those with lower health self-efficacy.Practice implications-Given that the association between emotional well-being and exchanging treatment information was moderated by health self-efficacy, clinicians should explain the role of health self-efficacy before encouraging patients to use eHealth systems for treatment exchanges.

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Despite concerns about misinformation across social media platforms, little attention has been paid to how to correct misinformation on visual platforms like Instagram. This study uses an experimental design on a national sample to test two features of user-based correction strategies on Instagram for a divisive issue on which misinformation abounds: the issue of climate change. First, we unite the inoculation and correction literature to test the efficacy of prebunking corrections that come before exposure to the misinformation versus debunking strategies that occur after exposure. Second, we compare fact-focused corrections that provide accurate information to rebut the misinformation against logic-focused corrections that highlight the rhetorical flaw underpinning the misinformation. Our findings suggest that these strategies intersect to reduce misperceptions. Logic-focused corrections effectively reduce misperceptions regardless of their placement before or after the misinformation, and appear to function in part by reducing perceptions of the credibility of the misinformation post. Fact-focused corrections only reduce misperceptions when they occur after the misinformation, but are seen as more credible than logic-focused corrections. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the theoretical mechanism by which correction can occur and the practical guidelines to best correct misinformation in visual social media spaces.

This study examined the interplay of depression and different types of e-health interventions on breast cancer patients' perceived healthcare competence, emotional processing, and social well-being over time. The three e-health interventions--Internet Only as a control condition, CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) Only, and CHESS with a Human Mentor, a cancer information specialist--provided varying degrees of interactivity and presence. A total of 328 women with breast cancer participated in one of the three interventions for a 6-month period. Women were further split into two groups based on reported levels of depression. For perceived healthcare competence and social well-being, results revealed significant interaction effects for intervention type by depression over time, such that breast cancer patients with higher levels of depression benefited most from the CHESS with Mentor intervention over the 6-month study period. For emotional processing, depressed cancer patients benefited more from the CHESS with Mentor than the other two interventions, regardless of time. These findings have (a) theoretical implications on how mental health factors can intersect with interactivity and presence to influence psychosocial outcomes, (b) conceptual implications for the role of human interaction within e-health systems, and

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This study attempts to examine the role of social support perception and emotional well-being on online information seeking among cancer patients within the context of CHESS, a well-established Interactive Cancer Communication System (ICCS). Factor and regression analyses conducted among 231 breast cancer patients revealed that social support perception and emotional well-being interacted with each other to influence online health information seeking. Patients with low social support perception and high emotional well-being were most likely to seek health information, whereas patients with high social support perception and high emotional well-being sought out the same information least. Practical implications of the study findings were further discussed.

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This study was designed to investigate the roles information and communications technology (ICT) played during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we focused on the relationships between ICT use and perceived importance of social connectedness and future anxiety, while considering relevant personality and psychosocial factors. A U.S. sample of 394 adults answered questions about ICT use, pandemic-related reactions and actions, demographics, and psychosocial factors via an online survey. Using logistic regression, findings indicated that personality (extraversion and conscientiousness) and psychosocial (need to belong and perceived attachment to phone) factors, types of ICT as news source, and gender were associated with perceived importance of social connectedness. Neuroticism, time spent on ICT for social purposes, and perceived threat of COVID-19 were associated with future anxiety. In addition, using Mann–Whitney U test, people who rated higher on importance of social connectedness had higher ICT use, both in terms of types and time spent on ICT. Overall, results are consistent with the idea that technology is a coping tool during the pandemic and balanced use can lead to feelings of social connectedness and less future anxiety. Therefore, it is important for authorities to align their messaging and outreach with people’s psychosocial, personality, and health considerations through ICT channels while empowering ICT users to be responsible for their interactions with the technology.