The Dark Side of Addiction Support Forums: Impacts of Poor Quality and Insufficient Emotional Support on Perceived Support Availability and Health Efficacy

Abstract

Research has identified many benefits of participating in online social support forums; however, the potential negative impacts of these communities have rarely been examined. This study explored the negative impacts of low quality (i.e., low person-centered) and insufficient (i.e., under-benefitted) emotional support on online support seekers. Health stigma and perceived support availability were also examined as mediating and moderating variables, respectively, in the model. An online survey of addiction support forum users (N = 321) was conducted. Results showed that for participants with low health stigma, low person-centered support decreased health self-efficacy through reducing perceived online emotional support availability, but under-benefitted support did not impact them. For those with high health stigma, low person-centered emotional support had positive effects on health self-efficacy through increasing perceived support availability, whereas under-benefitted support reduced health self-efficacy through decreasing perceived support availability. Importantly, a considerable proportion of participants (44.86%) reported under-benefitted emotional support. These findings suggest support forum participation can have negative impacts, but not all participants are adversely impacted equally. Instead, moderating variables, such as health stigma, can play an important role. Implications for future research and health care practitioners are discussed.