文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Social support acquisition in online health communities: a social capital perspective

作者：Liu, Xuan[1];Lin, Shan[1];Jiang, Shan[2];Chen, Ming[1];Li, Jia[1]

机构：[1]East China Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Business, Shanghai, Peoples R China;[2]Univ Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125 USA

年份：2023

卷号：33

期号：2

起止页码：664

外文期刊名：INTERNET RESEARCH

收录：;WOS:【SSCI(收录号:WOS:000809431100001)，SCI-EXPANDED(收录号:WOS:000809431100001)】；

基金：This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 71971082, 71471064, 71371005, and 91646205) and was also funded by the Science and Technology Innovation Plan of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (No: 22692110200 and 19692106700) and Humanity and Social Science Youth foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No: 18YJC630068).

语种：英文

外文关键词：Social capital; Virtual community; Online health community; Text classification; Random coefficient model

摘要：Purpose The authors empirically examined social capital factors affecting patients' social support acquisition with the aim of providing guidance to patients seeking social support online. Design/methodology/approach The authors used social network analysis to extract data about social capital factors from online health communities and text mining to identify forms of informational support and emotional support grounded in online, text-based communication. Moreover, the authors employed a random coefficient model to understand the dynamic influence of social capital factors on both informational and emotional support. Findings The results from the empirical analyses show that structural connections have a lasting impact on the acquisition of both types of support; that is, social connections developed in the past will have an effect on the future. For relational capital, strong ties were less important; the quantity of connections mattered more than the quality when acquiring informational support. The use of health-related language increased the amount of informational support acquired. Over time, patients gained increasing social support, which primarily came from the patients' historical threads, likely via searches from peers facilitated by accumulated social capital. Originality/value The authors' research adds to the literature on social capital and social support in online health communities by exploring how the three dimensions of social capital affect social support acquisition. The authors' research also contributes to the online health care literature by examining social support from a dynamic perspective. Practically, the authors' findings provide guidance for patients on what decisions to make to acquire more social support.