GF Strong Rehabilitation Research Program, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Kingston University, London, UK.
Spinal Cord. 2023 Aug;61(8):460-465. doi: 10.1038/s41393-023-00914-1. Epub 2023 Jul 13.
Quantitative study.
The study aimed to explore Family Caregivers of Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (FC-SCI) social media use patterns, most frequently used platforms, importance of social media for receiving and providing support, and type of social support (i.e., social companionship, emotional support, informational support) that FC-SCI receive or provide online.
FC-SCI participants from Canada and USA.
FC-SCI responded to measures regarding the social media platforms they use to access support, the importance of each platform, and the types of online social support they access through social media.
Sample consisted of 115 FC-SCI. Most caregivers were a partner or spouse of the individual with SCI (n = 110) and female (n = 111). Majority of FC-SCI spent 1-3 h daily on social media (n = 74), and Facebook was used predominantly (n = 108), followed by Instagram (n = 92), and YouTube (n = 66). For receiving or providing support, Facebook was ranked most important (60%), followed by Instagram (26%) and YouTube (17%). The mean differences and standard deviation were found for the types of social support: emotional support (25.93 ± 7.60), social companionship (23.85 ± 7.46), and informational support (27.24 ± 7.50).
Using social media for informational support is desired by FC-SCI as it is easily accessible, and time-efficient. The prevalent use of social media for support by FC-SCI demonstrates that social media is a valued platform for support. The support benefits for the mental and physical health of caregivers should be further evaluated.
定量研究。
本研究旨在探索脊髓损伤患者家属(FC-SCI)的社交媒体使用模式、最常使用的平台、社交媒体对接受和提供支持的重要性,以及他们在线提供或获取的社会支持类型(即社交陪伴、情感支持、信息支持)。
来自加拿大和美国的 FC-SCI 参与者。
FC-SCI 参与者回答了有关他们使用哪些社交媒体平台获取支持、每个平台的重要性以及他们通过社交媒体获取哪些类型的在线社会支持的问题。
样本由 115 名 FC-SCI 组成。大多数照顾者是 SCI 患者的伴侣或配偶(n=110),且为女性(n=111)。大多数 FC-SCI 每天花 1-3 小时在社交媒体上(n=74),使用最多的是 Facebook(n=108),其次是 Instagram(n=92)和 YouTube(n=66)。在接收或提供支持方面,Facebook 被认为是最重要的(60%),其次是 Instagram(26%)和 YouTube(17%)。还发现了各种社会支持类型的平均差异和标准差:情感支持(25.93±7.60)、社交陪伴(23.85±7.46)和信息支持(27.24±7.50)。
FC-SCI 希望通过社交媒体获取信息支持,因为它易于访问且节省时间。FC-SCI 对社交媒体的广泛使用表明,社交媒体是一个有价值的支持平台。应进一步评估支持对照顾者身心健康的益处。