Motivations in virtual health communities and their relationship to community, connectedness and stress

Authors:
Jennifer L. Welbourne;Anita L. Blanchard;Marla B. Wadsworth
Affiliations:
Department of Management, University of Texas-Pan American, 1201 West University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539, United States;Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States;Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States
Venue:
Computers in Human Behavior
Year:
2013

Citing 3
Cited 3

The experienced "sense" of a virtual community: characteristics and processes

ACM SIGMIS Database
Non-public and public online community participation: Needs, attitudes and behavior

Electronic Commerce Research
Sense of Virtual Community: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Validation

International Journal of Electronic Commerce

Automated and user involved data synchronization in collaborative e-health environments

Computers in Human Behavior
An epidemiological assessment of online groups and a test of a typology: What are the (dis)similarities of the online group types?

Computers in Human Behavior
My avatar is pregnant! Representation of pregnancy, birth, and maternity in a virtual world

Computers in Human Behavior

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This study explores the relationships between motivations for joining virtual health communities, online behaviors, and psycho-social outcomes. A sample of 144 women from two virtual health communities focusing on infertility completed survey measures assessing motivations, posting and receiving support, connectedness, community, and stress. Our results indicate that socio-emotional support motivations for joining the community were associated with posting support within the virtual community, while informational motivations were related to receiving support. Further, receiving support was associated with greater sense of virtual community as well as more general feelings of connectedness, which was related to less stress. Implications for virtual health community research are discussed.