Computer‐Mediated Social Support: Single Young Mothers as a Model System

Abstract

Forty-two single mothers with young infants were given access to a computer-mediated social support (CMSS) network concerned with parenting issues. The network operated 24 hours per day over a period of 6 months. It permitted public message exchanges, private e-mail, and text-based teleconferencing for as many as 8 participants at any one time. During the 6 month intervention, the 42 women accessed the network over 16,670 times. Individual differences in participation were significantly associated with indices of social isolation from peers. A descriptive analyses of the messages exchanged on the network disclosed that 98% of the replies to concerns posted in the public forum provided positive social support. The majority of the supportive replies fell into the category of emotional support, followed in order by informational and tangible support. Both the self-report data following the intervention, and qualitative data extracted from online discussions indicated that close personal relationships and a sense of community developed in this novel social environment. Finally, an analysis of pretest-posttest changes in the level of parenting stress revealed that mothers who participated regularly in this CMSS community were more likely to report a decrease in parenting stress following the intervention.

Are online support groups always beneficial? A qualitative exploration of the empowering and disempowering processes of participation within HIV/AIDS-related online support groups

“…Indeed, simply reading about the experiences of other members appears to be helpful, as seen through the many comments made by our survey respondents about the realisation that they 'were not alone' and reading about others reassured them. Indeed, to date there has been a growing body of literature which describes how accessing online support groups may be helpful for those who feel alone or isolated (Dunham et al, 1998;Malik & Coulson, 2008;Weinert, Cudney, & Winters, 2005) and that reading messages alone, regardless of whether one eventually posts a message to the group or not, can be helpful (Klemm, 2012).…”

Language Style Matching as a Predictor of Perceived Social Support in Computer-Mediated Interaction Among Individuals Coping With Illness

“…First, the results offer insights into the implications of the reduction in social cues associated with computer-mediated communication for social support. Prior research has examined the explicit types of support messages exchanged in computer-mediated contexts, (e.g., Braithwaite et al, 1999;Dunham et al, 1998;Eichhorn, 2008;Keating, 2013). Yet, the results of this study suggest that more subtle features of interaction that play a role in face-to-face supportive exchanges also warrant attention.…”

Mutual Help Groups for Mental Health Problems: A Review of Effectiveness Studies

“…In a few other studies, the outcome measure was not considered to be assessing a mental health variable as defined above. For example, Dunham et al (1998) otherwise excellent study of computer-mediated support for young single mothers, utilized parenting stress as the only pre-post outcome measure.…”