ArticleJMIR mental health2024
Understanding the Impacts of Online Mental Health Peer Support Forums: Realist Synthesis.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Barriers and facilitators to implementation of peer support after miscarriage: a systematic review using thematic synthesis methods.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Design Guidelines for Online Health Forums: User-Centered Design Approach.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Social media use and positive aspects of caregiving: a longitudinal test of the social compensation hypothesis.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Online Peer Support for Gambling Harm: Perspectives from People with Lived Experience and Service Providers.Journal of gambling studies · 2026Article
- Assisting patients with reliable information gathering: A guide to building efficient QA systems for medical use.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Contexts and Mechanisms Related to the Efficacy of Digital Medication Adherence Interventions to Support Medication Adherence Among Adults With Chronic Diseases: Realist Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Review
- Online Discussions of Men's Mental Health on Reddit and YouTube: Cross-Sectional Mixed-Methods Infodemiological Study.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- What Youth Write About and Seek in an Anonymized Online Peer Support Forum: Insights from India.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Predictors of Professional Responses in Nonprofit Mental Health Forums: Interpretable Machine Learning Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Alone together online: a mixed-methods analysis of loneliness, recognition, and peer response in a public digital community.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Evaluating Peer Online Forums to Support Health: Ethical and Practical Challenges.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Experiences of Using Online Peer Forums Among People With Postpartum Psychosis: Interpretative Phenomenological Study.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- Co-design of a novel rehabilitation intervention for patients after ankle fracture surgery: the patient perspective.Musculoskeletal surgery · 2025Article
- Barriers and Enablers to Young People's Posting, Responding, and Reading Behaviors on Mental Health Forums Using the Behavior Change Wheel: Qualitative Study.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- Factors Influencing Online Mental Health Forum Use for People from Ethnic Minority Backgrounds in the United Kingdom: A Mixed Methods Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Investigating Social Media Use by Young People to Self-Manage Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Large-Scale Analysis of Social Media Discussions Using Topic Modeling.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Framework for the Development and Delivery of Digital Peer Support Programs: Qualitative Study on in-Person and Digital Delivery for People With Cardiovascular Disease.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Impacts of Using Peer Online Forums in Mental Health: Realist Evaluation Using Mixed Methods.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- TrailMap: Pheromone-Based Adaptive Peer Matching for Sustainable Online Support Communities.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Understanding the Needs of Moderators in Online Mental Health Forums: Realist Synthesis and Recommendations for Support.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOnline forums are widely used for mental health peer support. However, evidence of their safety and effectiveness is mixed. Further research focused on articulating the contexts in which positive and negative impacts emerge from forum use is required to inform innovations in implementation.
objectiveThis study aimed to develop a realist program theory to explain the impacts of online mental health peer support forums on users.
methodsWe conducted a realist synthesis of literature published between 2019 and 2023 and 18 stakeholder interviews with forum staff.
resultsSynthesis of 102 evidence sources and 18 interviews produced an overarching program theory comprising 22 context-mechanism-outcome configurations. Findings indicate that users' perceptions of psychological safety and the personal relevance of forum content are foundational to ongoing engagement. Safe and active forums that provide convenient access to information and advice can lead to improvements in mental health self-efficacy. Within the context of welcoming and nonjudgmental communities, users may benefit from the opportunity to explore personal difficulties with peers, experience reduced isolation and normalization of mental health experiences, and engage in mutual encouragement. The program theory highlights the vital role of moderators in creating facilitative online spaces, stimulating community engagement, and limiting access to distressing content. A key challenge for organizations that host mental health forums lies in balancing forum openness and anonymity with the need to enforce rules, such as restrictions on what users can discuss, to promote community safety.
conclusionsThis is the first realist synthesis of online mental health peer support forums. The novel program theory highlights how successful implementation depends on establishing protocols for enhancing safety and strategies for maintaining user engagement to promote forum sustainability.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42022352528; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=352528.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.