Griffiths Kathleen M, Calear Alison L, Banfield Michelle, Tam Ada
Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
J Med Internet Res. 2009 Sep 30;11(3):e41. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1303.
Internet support groups (ISGs) are a popular means by which consumers with depression communicate online. A number of studies have evaluated the nature and impact of depression-specific ISGs. However, to date there have been no published systematic reviews of this evidence.
The aim was to systematically identify and summarize the available evidence concerning the scope and findings of studies of depression ISGs.
Three databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane) were searched using over 150 search terms extracted from relevant papers, abstracts, and a thesaurus. Papers were included if they employed an online peer-to-peer depression-specific support group and reported either quantitative or qualitative empirical data. The objective of each study was coded according to a 20-category classification system, which included the effect on depression and other outcomes, including help seeking; user characteristics, activity, satisfaction, perceived benefits, perceived disadvantages; the reason for using the ISG; the nature of ISG posts; characteristics of depression ISGs compared to other ISG types, face-to-face groups, and face-to-face counseling; ISG structure and longitudinal changes; and predictors of ISG adherence.
Thirteen papers satisfied the inclusion criteria from an initial pool of 12,692 abstracts. Of these, three collected data using survey questionnaires, nine analyzed samples of posts, and one both collected survey data and analyzed a sample of posts. The quality of most studies was not high, and little data were collected on most key aspects of depression ISGs. The most common objective of the studies was to analyze the nature of the posts (eight studies) and to describe site usage (six studies) and user characteristics (five studies). The most prevalent types of social support were emotional, informational, and social companionship.
Given the popularity of depression ISGs and the paucity of available evidence about them, there is a need for high-quality, systematic studies of these groups, their impact, and the characteristics of their members and users. Such information is required to inform decision making by consumers, provider and educational organizations, guideline developers, policy makers, and funding bodies considering using, recommending, providing, or funding such groups.
网络支持小组（ISGs）是抑郁症患者在线交流的一种常用方式。许多研究评估了特定于抑郁症的ISGs的性质和影响。然而，迄今为止，尚未有已发表的对该证据的系统评价。
旨在系统地识别和总结有关抑郁症ISGs研究范围和结果的现有证据。
使用从相关论文、摘要和词库中提取的150多个搜索词对三个数据库（PubMed、PsycINFO、Cochrane）进行检索。如果论文采用在线点对点抑郁症特定支持小组并报告了定量或定性实证数据，则将其纳入。每项研究的目标根据一个20类分类系统进行编码，该系统包括对抑郁症和其他结果的影响，包括寻求帮助；用户特征、活动、满意度、感知益处、感知劣势；使用ISG的原因；ISG帖子的性质；与其他ISG类型、面对面小组和面对面咨询相比，抑郁症ISGs的特征；ISG结构和纵向变化；以及ISG依从性的预测因素。
从最初的12692篇摘要中筛选出13篇符合纳入标准的论文。其中，3篇使用调查问卷收集数据，9篇分析帖子样本，1篇既收集了调查数据又分析了帖子样本。大多数研究的质量不高，关于抑郁症ISGs大多数关键方面的数据收集较少。研究最常见的目标是分析帖子的性质（8项研究）、描述网站使用情况（6项研究）和用户特征（5项研究）。最普遍的社会支持类型是情感支持、信息支持和社交陪伴。
鉴于抑郁症ISGs的普及以及关于它们的现有证据匮乏，需要对这些小组、它们的影响以及其成员和用户的特征进行高质量、系统性的研究。消费者、提供者和教育组织、指南制定者、政策制定者以及考虑使用、推荐、提供或资助此类小组的资助机构在做决策时需要此类信息。
