IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v72y2011i1p54-62.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internet peer support for individuals with psychiatric disabilities: A randomized controlled trial

Author

Listed:
  • Kaplan, Katy
  • Salzer, Mark S.
  • Solomon, Phyllis
  • Brusilovskiy, Eugene
  • Cousounis, Pamela

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of Internet support groups for individuals with mental illnesses little is known about the potential benefits, or harm, of participating in such groups. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial sought to determine the impact of unmoderated, unstructured Internet peer support, similar to what is naturally occurring on the Internet, on the well-being of individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Three hundred individuals resident in the USA diagnosed with a Schizophrenia Spectrum or an Affective Disorder were randomized into one of three conditions: experimental Internet peer support via a listserv, experimental Internet peer support via a bulletin board, or a control condition. Three measurement time points, baseline, 4- and 12 months post-baseline, assessed well-being by examining measures of recovery, quality of life, empowerment, social support, and distress. Time × group interactions in the repeated measures ANOVA showed no differences between conditions on the main outcomes. Post-hoc repeated measures ANOVAs found that those individuals who participated more in Internet peer support reported higher levels of distress than those with less or no participation (p = 0.03). Those who reported more positive experiences with the Internet peer support group also reported higher levels of psychological distress than those reporting less positive experiences (p = 0.01). Study results therefore do not support the hypothesis that participation in an unmoderated, unstructured Internet listserv or bulletin board peer support group for individuals with psychiatric disabilities enhances well-being. Counterintuitive findings demonstrating those who report more positive experiences also experienced higher levels of distress are discussed but we also point to the need for additional research. Future research should explore the various structures, formats, and interventions of Internet support, as well as the content and quality of interactions. Knowledge generated from such research can help to inform policies and guidelines for safely navigating online resources and supports to gain maximum benefit.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaplan, Katy & Salzer, Mark S. & Solomon, Phyllis & Brusilovskiy, Eugene & Cousounis, Pamela, 2011. "Internet peer support for individuals with psychiatric disabilities: A randomized controlled trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 54-62, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:72:y:2011:i:1:p:54-62
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(10)00702-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sherbourne, Cathy Donald & Stewart, Anita L., 1991. "The MOS social support survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 705-714, January.
    2. Berger, Magdalena & Wagner, Todd H. & Baker, Laurence C., 2005. "Internet use and stigmatized illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1821-1827, October.
    3. Lehman, Anthony F., 1988. "A quality of life interview for the chronically mentally ill," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 51-62, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Slauson-Blevins, Kathleen S. & McQuillan, Julia & Greil, Arthur L., 2013. "Online and in-person health-seeking for infertility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 110-115.
    2. Denise Catalano & Linda Holloway & Elias Mpofu, 2018. "Mental Health Interventions for Parent Carers of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Practice Guidelines from a Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS) Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, February.
    3. Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning & Ren, Siyu & Xu, Lu & Chai, Jingxia & Irfan, Muhammad & Hao, Yu & Lu, Zhi-Nan, 2022. "The impact of internet development on the health of Chinese residents: Transmission mechanisms and empirical tests," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Valéria Teresa Saraiva Lino & Nádia Cristina Pinheiro Rodrigues & Mônica Kramer de Noronha Andrade & Inês Nascimento de Carvalho Reis & Lucília Almeida Elias Lopes & Soraya Atie, 2019. "Association between visual problems, insufficient emotional support and urinary incontinence with disability in elderly people living in a poor district in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: A six-year follow-up," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-12, May.
    5. Anita Hubley & Lara Russell & Anita Palepu & Stephen Hwang, 2014. "Subjective Quality of Life Among Individuals who are Homeless: A Review of Current Knowledge," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 509-524, January.
    6. White, Lynn & McQuillan, Julia & Greil, Arthur L. & Johnson, David R., 2006. "Infertility: Testing a helpseeking model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 1031-1041, February.
    7. Liping Ye & Xinping Zhang, 2021. "The association mechanism between social network types and health‐related behaviours among the elderly in rural Hubei Province, China," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 826-846, May.
    8. Patrick Nürnberger & Dirk von Lewinski & Hans-Bernd Rothenhäusler & Celine Braun & Patrick Reinbacher & Ewald Kolesnik & Andreas Baranyi, 2022. "A biopsychosocial model of severe fear of COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Francis, Jacinta & Wood, Lisa J. & Knuiman, Matthew & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2012. "Quality or quantity? Exploring the relationship between Public Open Space attributes and mental health in Perth, Western Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1570-1577.
    10. Srinivasan Chokkanathan & Aravindhan Natarajan, 2018. "Perceived Quality of Life following Elder Mistreatment in Rural India," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(5), pages 69-80.
    11. Kenneth G. Rice & Fernán Arana & Hannah Wetstone & Michelle Aiello & Barbara Durán, 2023. "Predicting and Moderating COVID-Fear and Stress among College Students in Argentina and the USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-20, August.
    12. Zinn, Andrew & Palmer, Ashley N. & Nam, Eunji, 2017. "Developmental heterogeneity of perceived social support among former foster youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 51-58.
    13. César Merino-Soto & Alicia Boluarte Carbajal & Filiberto Toledano-Toledano & Laura A. Nabors & Miguel Ángel Núñez-Benítez, 2022. "A New Story on the Multidimensionality of the MSPSS: Validity of the Internal Structure through Bifactor ESEM," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Mariana Sanchez & Eduardo Romano & Christyl Dawson & Hui Huang & Alicia Sneij & Elena Cyrus & Patria Rojas & Miguel Ángel Cano & Judith Brook & Mario De La Rosa, 2016. "Drinking and Driving among Recent Latino Immigrants: The Impact of Neighborhoods and Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-15, October.
    15. Ellen G. Levine & Grace J. Yoo & Caryn Aviv, 2017. "Predictors of Quality of Life among Ethnically Diverse Breast Cancer Survivors," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, March.
    16. Petro Mlyakado, Budeba & Li, Jessica Chi-Mei & Xinshan Jia, Cindy, 2023. "Online sexual exploitation of adolescents in Tanzania: Explaining help-seeking intention using the theory of planned behaviour," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    17. José Antonio Llosa & Esteban Agulló-Tomás & Sara Menéndez-Espina & María Luz Rivero-Díaz & Enrique Iglesias-Martínez, 2022. "Self-Criticism in In-Work Poverty: The Mediating Role of Social Support in the Era of Flexibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, January.
    18. Julie A. Lam & Robert Rosenheck, 1999. "Social Support and Service Use Among Homeless Persons With Serious Mental Illness," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(1), pages 13-28, March.
    19. Brusilovskiy, Eugene & Salzer, Mark S., 2012. "A study of environmental influences on the well-being of individuals with psychiatric disabilities in Philadelphia, PA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1591-1601.
    20. Kathleen Finlayson & Helen Edwards & Mary Courtney, 2010. "The impact of psychosocial factors on adherence to compression therapy to prevent recurrence of venous leg ulcers," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(9‐10), pages 1289-1297, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:72:y:2011:i:1:p:54-62. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.