Journal ArticleDOI
Who talks? The social psychology of illness support groups.
TLDR
Support seeking was highest for diseases viewed as stigmatizing and was lowest for less embarrassing but equally devastating disorders, such as heart disease, and implications for social comparison theory and its applications in health care are discussed.Abstract:
More Americans try to change their health behaviors through self-help than through all other forms of professionally designed programs. Mutual support groups, involving little or no cost to participants, have a powerful effect on mental and physical health, yet little is known about patterns of support group participation in health care. What kinds of illness experiences prompt patients to seek each other's company? In an effort to observe social comparison processes with real-world relevance, support group participation was measured for 20 disease categories in 4 metropolitan areas (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas) and on 2 on-line forums. Support seeking was highest for diseases viewed as stigmatizing (e.g., AIDS, alcoholism, breast and prostate cancer) and was lowest for less embarrassing but equally devastating disorders, such as heart disease. The authors discuss implications for social comparison theory and its applications in health care.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Reacting to the diagnosis of prostate cancer: patient learning in a community of practice.
TL;DR: This article is based on a contribution to a symposium on prostate cancer at the Fifth International Conference on Psycho-Oncology and describes a personal experience of confronting these issues.
Journal ArticleDOI
A clinical profile of participants in an online support group.
Alison M. Darcy,Barbara Dooley +1 more
TL;DR: A clinical profile of users of an online support group for people with eating disorders demonstrated a clinical profile comparable to, and on some measures in excess of, samples diagnosed with an ED.
BookDOI
Mental health self-help
Louis D. Brown,Scott Wituk +1 more
TL;DR: This book discusses the contribution of self-Help groups to the Mental Health/Substance Use Services System, and how Governments and Other Funding Sources can Facilitate Self-Help Research and Services.
Journal ArticleDOI
Interpretations of Online Anonymity in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
Sabirat Rubya,Svetlana Yarosh +1 more
TL;DR: It is observed that members in twelve-step fellowships like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous were less likely to enact "unidentifiability" if they were more connected to the particular community and had more time in recovery.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that there is a strong functional tie between opinions and abilities in humans and that the ability evaluation of an individual can be expressed as a comparison of the performance of a particular ability with other abilities.
Book
Statistical abstract of the United States
TL;DR: The Red River of the North basin of the Philippines was considered a part of the Louisiana Purchase by the United States Department of Commerce in the 1939 Census Atlas of the United Philippines as discussed by the authors.
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The theory and practice of group psychotherapy
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Journal ArticleDOI
Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being?
Robert E. Kraut,Michael Patterson,Vicki Lundmark,Sara Kiesler,Tridas Mukophadhyay,William L. Scherlis +5 more
TL;DR: Greater use of the Internet was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household, declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness.
Journal ArticleDOI