Health information is increasingly being shared online not just by credentialed sources such as physicians or health organizations, but also by patients with personal experience with a health concern. This dissertation proposes a new measure of vigilance-avoidance, or tendency to approach or avoid threatening stimuli, in order to understand how…

Background: Lack of education is a known barrier to vaccination, but data on the design and effectiveness of interventions remain limited. Objective: This study aims to identify the effectiveness of a Facebook-assisted teaching method on female adolescents' knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer prevention and on their human papillomavirus…

The two studies in this dissertation identify and address two related research gaps in literature on healthcare virtual support communities. Study one suggested that the exclusive emphasis on social support behavior and its impacts on individual well-being in virtual support communities has led to the neglect of another type of social interaction…

Accurately detecting emotional expression in women with primary breast cancer participating in support groups may be important for therapists and researchers. In 2 small studies (N = 20 and N = 16), the authors examined whether video coding, human text coding, and automated text analysis provided consistent estimates of the level of emotional…

Investigated a computer-mediated support group for six breast cancer patients. Patients used home computers to connect to a computer bulletin board on which they read messages from and posted messages to each other. Patients discussed their medical conditions, shared personal concerns, and offered support. This online approach provided many…