Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38292012›Full record

ArticleInternet interventions2024

Characteristics and engagement among English-language online forums for addiction recovery available in the US.

Jason B Colditz, Lily H Hsiao, Brandon G Bergman, David W Best, Eric G Hulsey, Jaime E Sidani, Bruce L Rollman, Kevin L Kraemer

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Internet interventions, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 29% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Effects of participation in a large, online community for substance use disorder recovery: A naturalistic, longitudinal study.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Jason B ColditzDivision of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 230 McKee Place #600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States.
Lily H HsiaoDivision of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 230 McKee Place #600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States.
Brandon G BergmanRecovery Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, & Harvard Medical School, 151 Merrimac Street, 4th Fl., Boston, MA 02114, United States.
David W BestCentre for Addiction Recovery Research (CARR), Leeds Trinity University, Trinity Building, Brownberrie Road, Leeds LS18 5SD, Yorkshire, UK.
Eric G HulseyDepartment of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States.
Jaime E SidaniDepartment of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, United States.
Bruce L RollmanDivision of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 230 McKee Place #600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States.
Kevin L KraemerDivision of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 230 McKee Place #600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States.
University of Pittsburgh · USHarvard University · USLeeds Trinity University · GB

Funding

NRSA Training CoreTL1TR001858 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI RADOMSKI, THOMAS, RUBIO, DORIS M · 2016 to 2025
$11.1M
Toward measures and behavioral trials for effective online AUD recovery supportK01AA030809 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI Jason Colditz · 2023 to 2026
$683k
NCATS NIH HHS TL1 TR001858NIAAA NIH HHS K01 AA030809
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In developing public resources for the Networks Enhancing Addiction Recovery - Forum Activity Roadmap (NEAR-FAR), we completed a systematic observational study of English-language online forums related to recovery from alcohol or other drug addiction in late 2021. Among 207 identified forums, the majority were classified as "general addiction" or alcohol-focused, though classifications related to other substances were common on websites hosting multiple forums. Commonly used social media platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, or Quora offered easily accessible venues for individuals seeking online support related to a variety of substances. Forums were related to established recovery programs such as 12-step and SMART Recovery as well as other nonprofit and for-profit recovery programs, and to community forums without formal recovery programming. Among 148 forums with any observed user activity, the median time between unique user engagements was 27 days (inter-quartile range: 2-74). Among 98 forums with past-month posting activity, we found a median of <10 posts per week (inter-quartile range: 1-78). This study compares three metrics of observed forum activity (posts per week, responses per post, time between unique user engagements) and operationalizes forum characteristics that may potentiate opportunities for enhanced engagement and social support in addiction recovery.

Indexed as

Addiction recoveryAlcohol useForumOnlineSocial mediaSubstance use

Identifiers

PMID38292012
PMCPMC10825518
OpenAlexW4390921186

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.