Can online social support be detrimental in stigmatized chronic diseases? A quadratic model of the effects of informational and emotional support on self-care behavior of HIV patients

摘要

Objective: We studied the impact of online social support on patient self-care behavior in an online health community for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. We conceptualized emotional and informational support provided by community members into nuanced sub-dimensions. We explored how the direct and interaction effects of these sub-dimensions impact the self-care behavior of a support seeker.