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- Title
Is this OCD?: Exploring conditions of information poverty in online support groups dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder.
- Authors
Bronstein, Jenny
- Abstract
Introduction. The purpose of the study was to investigate conditions of information poverty in online support groups dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder. Elfreda Chatman described her theory of information poverty as conditions in which people are unwilling to share information or to approach others for needed information because they perceived themselves as being isolated, they mistrusted their surroundings or they want to give the appearance of normalcy. The study seeks to examine its six propositions in online environments such as mental health online support groups. Method. A sample of 202 message postings posted for three months were collected from two online support groups dealing with obsessive compulsive disorder. Analysis. The data were analysed using a direct content analysis approach that wishes to retest existing models or concepts in a new context. Results. The content analysis of the data revealed different types of conditions of information poverty that concur with four of Chatman's six propositions of information poverty. Findings show that users describe conditions of information poverty in which users feeling devoid of information, self-disclose about their condition and express a total lack of support. Also, the content analysis showed that users refrain from seeking information for economic reasons, adopted self-protective behaviour and elicit the groups for experiential information or insiders' knowledge.
- Subjects
OBSESSIVE-compulsive disorder; COMPULSIVE behavior; SUPPORT groups; CHATMAN, Elfreda Annmary, 1942-2002; RESEARCH in information science; CONTENT analysis
- Publication
Information Research, 2014, Vol 19, Issue 4, p189
- ISSN
1368-1613
- Publication type
Article