ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Exploring the Effect of Social Support and Empathy on User Engagement in Online Mental Health Communities.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- How Conscientiousness Influences Prosocial Behavior Among Adolescents: The Role of Empathy and Social Support.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Mental health in digital microsystems across three Asian Reddit communities.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Alone together online: a mixed-methods analysis of loneliness, recognition, and peer response in a public digital community.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to User Engagement and Moderation for Web-Based Peer Support Among Young People: Qualitative Study Using the Behavior Change Wheel Framework.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- Identifying Yalom's group therapeutic factors in anonymous mental health discussions on Reddit: a mixed-methods analysis using large language models, topic modeling and human supervision.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Internet-Based Social Connections of Black American College Students in Pre-COVID-19 and Peri-COVID-19 Pandemic Periods: Network Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Social support, empathy and compassion fatigue among clinical nurses: structural equation modeling.BMC nursing · 2023Article
- Resiliency outcomes after participation in an asynchronous web-based platform for adults with neurofibromatosis: The NF-Web study.PloS one · 2023Article
- School climate and adolescents' prosocial behavior: the mediating role of perceived social support and resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Effect of having and switching multiple avatars on the operator's right to talk and receive social support.PloS one · 2023Article
- Big Data, Decision Models, and Public Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Impact of Occupational Risks of Medical Staff on Willingness to Occupational Mobility in COVID-19 Pandemic.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2022Article
- Understudied social influences on work-related and parental burnout: Social media-related emotions, comparisons, and the "do it all discrepancy".Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Increasing self- and desired psychiatric diagnoses among emerging adults: Mixed-methods insights from clinical psychologists.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
- Service quality optimization of online mental health communities: A KANO-IPA model approach.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is known that social support and empathy are beneficial for mental health. As a result of the widespread development of social media, online social support and empathy could also influence user behaviors during the development of online communities. However, few studies have examined these effects from the perspective of online mental health communities. These communities appear to be a crucial source for mental health related support, but the spread of online empathy in these communities is not well-understood. This study focused on 22 mental health related subreddits, and matched and compared users (1) who received social support with those who did not receive social support, and users (2) who received more empathic social support with those who received less empathic social support. The results showed that social support and empathy are "contagious". That is, users who received social support at their first post would be more likely to post again and provide support for others; in addition, users who received more empathic support would subsequently express a higher level of empathy to others in the future. Our findings indicate the potential chain reaction of social support and empathy in online mental health communities. Our study also provides insights into how online mental health communities might better assist people to deliver social support that can help others to deal with mental problems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.