Department of Communication Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 26;18(9):4576. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094576.
(1) Background: Digital health research has indicated that people with stigmatized health problems are drawn to online support groups (OSGs) because these groups help them to manage such conditions. However, little is known about how media affordances-interactions between the technology and the user-reconfigure the ways in which stigmatized individuals use OSGs and interact with others like themselves. (2) Method: The current study applied an affordance framework to evaluate how Facebook and WhatsApp support groups can help military veterans and their partners cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was based on interviews with 34 PTSD-OSG members in Israel. (3) Findings: This research identified five affordances that members appraised as enhancing their coping efforts in the digital world: visibility, availability, multimediality, surveillance, and synchronicity. (4) Conclusions: This study reveals the connection between a specific stigmatized mental health disorder (i.e., PTSD) and perceptions of communication technologies (i.e., affordances), and specifies the uses of technologies for coping with this mental health disorder. Moreover, this study may inform digital intervention designers about which communication affordances can potentially lead to better health outcomes.
(1) 背景：数字健康研究表明，患有被污名化健康问题的人会被在线支持群体（OSG）所吸引，因为这些群体有助于他们管理这些疾病。然而，对于媒体的辅助功能——技术和用户之间的相互作用如何重新配置被污名化的个体使用 OSG 并与其他同类个体进行互动的方式，人们知之甚少。(2) 方法：本研究应用了一个可供性框架来评估 Facebook 和 WhatsApp 支持群体如何帮助以色列的退役军人及其伴侣应对创伤后应激障碍（PTSD），该研究基于对 34 名 PTSD-OSG 成员的访谈。(3) 发现：本研究确定了五个成员评估为增强其在数字世界中应对努力的可供性：可见性、可用性、多媒体性、监控和同步性。(4) 结论：本研究揭示了特定污名化心理健康障碍（即 PTSD）与沟通技术（即可供性）之间的联系，并具体说明了技术在应对这种心理健康障碍中的用途。此外，本研究可能会为数字干预设计人员提供有关哪些沟通可供性可能会带来更好的健康结果的信息。
