Abstract
(1) Background: Digital health research has indicated that people with stigmatized health problems are drawn to online support groups (OSGs) because these groups help them to manage such conditions. However, little is known about how media affordances—interactions between the technology and the user—reconfigure the ways in which stigmatized individuals use OSGs and interact with others like themselves. (2) Method: The current study applied an affordance framework to evaluate how Facebook and WhatsApp support groups can help military veterans and their partners cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was based on interviews with 34 PTSD-OSG members in Israel. (3) Findings: This research identified five affordances that members appraised as enhancing their coping efforts in the digital world: visibility, availability, multimediality, surveillance, and synchronicity. (4) Conclusions: This study reveals the connection between a specific stigmatized mental health disorder (i.e., PTSD) and perceptions of communication technologies (i.e., affordances), and specifies the uses of technologies for coping with this mental health disorder. Moreover, this study may inform digital intervention designers about which communication affordances can potentially lead to better health outcomes.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
