Online Social Support: An Effective Means of Mediating Stress

To get a sense of online social support, it is valuable to define and understand what types of online support are available.  Issues at the heart of online support groups are wide and varied, and include various health issues, including but not limited to cancer, and some chronic health conditions; playing supportive roles in health care of loved ones and friends; psychological issues and social issues.

Health Issues

In 2006, over a 550 thousand people died from cancer and 72 thousand people died as a result of diabetes (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009).  Consequently, these types of statistics have moved researchers and medical support personnel to search for ways to help treat people living with chronic and acute medical conditions, and assist those individuals to cope effectively with their stressful experiences.  Several important studies have examined the use of social support for people with cancer, diabetes, and other health issues (Beaudoin, & Tao, 2007; Lieberman, & Goldstein, 2005; Sullivan, 2003).   Aside from cancer and diabetes, other health issues discussed in online forums include, but are not limited to, inflammatory bowel disease (e.g., IBSgroup.org), colitis (e.g., dailystrength.org), AIDS (e.g., aidssupport@aarogya.com), and infertility (e.g., resolve.org).

Wellness is also a topic of interest in online support groups; for example, there are blogs, threaded discussions, and listservs dedicated to smoking cessation (e.g., whyquit.com), breastfeeding (e.g., forums.llli.org), and eating issues (e.g., something-fishy.org). In sources of online support, the participants are offered emotional support, in addition to medical information, and potential treatment options (Sullivan, 2003).  These resources can be invaluable for the people who rely on them to help sustain a healthy lifestyle.

People in Supportive Roles

In addition to online support groups for people with health issues and interests, there are groups of individuals, such as parents and spouses, who serve as primary caretakers of people with serious health issues.  The individuals may be caring for a parent, child, friend, spouse or client with a chronic or acute condition.  The stress impact on parents, spouses, and other members of social networks, resulting from caring for a loved one or patient is significant (Schwerdtfeger et al., 2008).  In some cases, the stress can be so intense that the caretaker, themselves, may even experience health or psychological problems.  Therefore, developing effective and comprehensive coping strategies is important.

The stress of caring for a sick or disabled loved one may be magnified by the fact that caretakers are somewhat bound by place and time.  That is, often caretakers spend a tremendous amount of time at home and at the hospital, making them somewhat socially isolated.   Like those individuals who are experiencing a stressful condition, those who are providing social support and care for those individuals may implement many coping mechanisms to handle the stress and associated feelings, including making use of social support (Schwedtfeger et al., 2008).  As a result, caretakers may turn to online support groups to help cope with the stress.

Psychological Issues

Online support groups are also useful for individuals coping with psychological issues, interested in things, such as suicide, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, and bereavement.  Some people experiencing particular psychological problems rely on 12 step programs that offer social support in a more organized fashion, for example Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA).  These programs have traditionally been face to face, but with the internet being so readily available, there has been recent interest in evaluating the efficacy of an internet form of self help groups like AA or NA.

Specifically, social support for bereaved individuals is one area for which there has been a significant amount of research (Bath, 2009; Vanerwerker & Prigerson, 2003).  Bereaved individuals are at a higher risk for mental and health problems, such as depression or anxiety disorder (Vanderwerker & Prigerson, 2003).  Social support has been shown to be extremely helpful for people who have lost a loved one, and electronic connectedness offers individuals the ability to feel supported without actually having to be in the same place as those members of the social network.

Other Issues

Social relationships are like a double edged sword; sometimes, social relationships are positive and help to mediate stress, while other times social relationships may be pathogenic and cause stress.  Social stress is present in nearly all social relationships and in all contexts. Because of the social nature of human relationships, social stress is evident in marriages, peer groups, and work environments.  While social stress may not be immediate or acute; the typically chronic nature of social stress is nonetheless harmful (Lazarus & Folkman, 1988).

According to the cognitive transactional model, people with a weak network of support and few coping techniques may feel stressed with small, less significant hassles; those with a more advance support system and a greater number of tricks in their bag may experience less feelings of stress with the same level, or more stressors (Baum, 2004).  The implication is that individuals may reduce their stress level by developing support systems and utilizing coping skills in handling stress.  As a result, individuals with social stress may take advantage of support groups, including those conducted online.

Use of Online Social Support

Across several different populations of users, there may be some differences between groups in how the online support groups provide support, or how the members participate. There may be important differences across gender, racial and ethnic lines, and age.