Charee M. Thompson

Exploring psychosocial support online: a content analysis of messages in an adolescent and young adult cancer community.

The increased usage of online cancer support groups as a resource for health-related information and social support has sparked numerous discussions about the role of online support in healthcare. However, little is known about the role of social-networking groups focused on supporting adolescents and young adults (AYAs) dealing with cancer. The current investigation report findings from a content analysis designed to explore how AYAs use an online support group to meet their psychosocial needs. Overall, members of the community focused on exchanging emotional and informational support, coping with difficult emotions through expression, describing experiences of being an AYA dealing with cancer through language (metaphors), enacting identity through evaluations of the new normal (life with and after cancer), and communicating membership as an AYA with cancer. This study highlights the unique needs of the AYA cancer community and offers a preliminary roadmap for practitioners, and network members, such as family and friends, to attempt to meet the needs of this unique community.

Understanding how adolescents and young adults with cancer talk about needs in online and face-to-face support groups:

We compared adolescent and young adult cancer patient and survivor language between mediated and face-to-face support communities in order to understand how the use of certain words frame conversations about family, friends, health, work, achievement, and leisure. We analyzed transcripts from an online discussion board (N = 360) and face-to-face support group (N = 569) for adolescent and young adults using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, a word-based computerized text analysis software that counts the frequency of words and word stems. There were significant differences between the online and face-to-face support groups in terms of content (e.g. friends, health) and style words (e.g. verb tense, negative emotion, and cognitive process).

Defining adolescent and young adult (AYA) exercise and nutrition needs: Concerns communicated in an online cancer support community

OBJECTIVE To describe topics, needs, and concerns related to nutrition and exercise that adolescents and young adults affected by a serious illness (cancer) discuss online. METHODS Investigators conducted a qualitative content analysis of messages related to nutrition and exercise posted on an online young adult cancer forum. RESULTS AYAs described several functions achieved through nutrition and exercise, such as fighting cancer, losing weight, obtaining nutrients despite side effects of treatment, promoting general health, enjoyment, and promoting mental/emotional health. AYAs also discussed several problems that interfere with nutrition and exercise goals, such as side effects of steroids, physiological problems with eating, safety concerns or physical limitations due to treatment, poor follow through with behavioral change, stress, and low energy. CONCLUSION AYAs discuss specific ways nutrition and exercise help achieve a variety of functions that may be physical or psychological, cancer-specific or general. AYAs describe several concerns and barriers that impede their nutrition and exercise goals. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Clinicians should also consider relevant medical and personal variables that partly determine nutrition and exercise concerns. Clinicians can anticipate barriers to desired nutrition/exercise change and develop interventions that address these barriers in appropriately tailored ways, including using digital media.

Mother-teen communication about weight management.

Although research shows family members can influence each others diet and exercise behaviors, the specific strategies that most effectively motivate individuals to enact healthy behaviors have not been revealed. Toward this goal, this study employed confirmation theory to assess how the quality of weight management (WM) communication between 107 mother–teen dyads was related to their diet and exercise behaviors as well as their subjective perceptions of the productivity of WM conversations. Confirmation theory proposes two components of confirmation: acceptance and challenge. Analyses revealed that accepting and challenging communication were both positively related to the perceived productivity of WM conversations. However, more complex associations emerged for diet and exercise. Acceptance was more helpful in motivating better eating habits for mothers with low health motivation and teens with high health motivation. For exercise, challenge was helpful in motivating teens with higher sensitivity about communicating about weight issues; however, counter to predictions, challenge was negatively related to exercise for teens with low health motivation and low sensitivity. These interactions, however, explained less variance than analyses for perceived effectiveness and satisfaction.

Work and “Mass Personal” Communication as Means of Navigating Nutrition and Exercise Concerns in an Online Cancer Community

Background Health and psychosocial outcomes for young adults affected by cancer have improved only minimally in decades, partially due to a lack of relevant support and information. Given significant unmet needs involving nutrition and exercise, it is important to understand how this audience handles information about food and fitness in managing their cancer experiences. Objective Using the theory of illness trajectories as a framework, we explored how four lines of work associated with living with a chronic illness such as cancer (illness, everyday life, biographical, and the recently explicated construct of communication work) impacts and is impacted by nutrition and exercise concerns. Methods Following a search to extract all nutrition- and exercise-related content from the prior 3 years (January 2008 to February 2011), a sample of more than 1000 posts from an online support community for young adults affected by cancer were qualitatively analyzed employing iterative, constant comparison techniques. Sensitized by illness trajectory research and related concepts, 3 coders worked over 4 months to examine the English-language, de-identified text files of content. Results An analysis of discussion board threads in an online community for young adults dealing with cancer shows that nutrition and exercise needs affect the young adults’ illness trajectories, including their management of illness, everyday life, biographical, and communication work. Furthermore, this paper helps validate development of the “communication work” variable, explores the “mass personal” interplay of mediated and interpersonal communication channels, and expands illness trajectory work to a younger demographic than investigated in prior research. Conclusions Applying the valuable concepts of illness, everyday life, biographical, and communication work provides a more nuanced understanding of how young adults affected by cancer handle exercise and nutrition needs. This knowledge can help provide support and interventional guidance for the well-documented psychosocial challenges particular to this demographic as they manage the adversities inherent in a young adult cancer diagnosis. The research also helps explain how these young adults meet communication needs in a “mass personal” way that employs multiple communication channels to meet goals and thus might be more effectively reached in a digital world.

Family Communication and Body Dissatisfaction among Young Adult Females: Mediating Effects of Social Competence

Although the link between family-of-origin environments and body dissatisfaction among daughters is well-documented, the mechanisms through which family factors influence daughters’ body image concerns have been relatively unexplored. To address this gap, we examine the association between parental communication and young adult females’ body dissatisfaction as mediated by social competence. Female college students (N = 375; M age = 20.19) participated in an online survey which asked them to assess their perception of their mothers’ and fathers’ family communication patterns (FCPs). The hypothesized model was partially supported. Mothers’ conversation orientation was positively associated with females’ social competence, which, in turn, was negatively related to their body dissatisfaction. Results also revealed an interaction effect between mothers’ conversation and conformity orientations. Fathers’ conversation orientation was negatively and directly related to females’ body dissatisfaction. Implications of the findings are discussed.

College Students’ Drinking and Posting About Alcohol: Forwarding a Model of Motivations, Behaviors, and Consequences

College drinking continues to remain a public health problem that has been exacerbated by alcohol-related posts on social networking sites (SNSs). Although existing research has linked alcohol consumption, alcohol posts, and adverse consequences to one another, comprehensive explanations for these associations have been largely unexplored. Thus, we reasoned that students’ personal motivations (i.e., espousing an alcohol identity, needing entertainment, and adhering to social norms) influence their behaviors (i.e., alcohol consumption and alcohol-related posting on SNSs), which can lead to alcohol problems. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed data from 364 undergraduate students and found general support for our model. In particular, espousing an alcohol identity predicted alcohol consumption and alcohol-related SNS posting, needing entertainment predicted alcohol consumption but not alcohol-related SNS posting, and adhering to social norms predicted alcohol-related SNS posting but not alcohol consumption. In turn, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related SNS posting predicted alcohol problems. It is surprising that alcohol-related SNS posting was a stronger predictor of alcohol problems than alcohol consumption. We discuss the findings within their applied applications for college student health.

The Role of Communication Competence in Buffering Against the Negative Effects of Alcohol-Related Social Networking Site Usage

College students’ alcohol-related social networking site (SNS) usage is associated with alcohol problems; however, individual factors that increase this risk are less understood. We posit the degree to which students experience alcohol problems related to their SNS usage hinges upon how skillfully they manage their communication on SNS. As such, we focus on how SNS competence predicts students’ SNS usage and subsequent alcohol problems. We analyzed data collected from 364 undergraduate students and found support for SNS competence serving a moderating role between alcohol-related SNS behavior and alcohol problems. SNS competence—appropriateness in particular—buffers against the negative effects of alcohol-related SNS use. Our research offers several theoretical implications and practical applications for social media literacy-based drinking interventions.

The Effectiveness of Weight Management Influence Messages in Romantic Relationships

This study assessed the effectiveness of weight management conversations reported by participants (n = 158) using Dillard, Wilson, Tusing, and Kinneys (1997) three influence dimensions: explicitness, dominance, and reasoning. In addition, the study assessed the potential mediating roles of politeness and resistance. Results showed that dominance was related to effectiveness, and that both politeness and resistance mediated this relationship. Reasoning was indirectly related to effectiveness through politeness. Overall, findings suggest that if romantic partners want to influence one another to enact healthy behaviors, they should address face needs, give reasons for their requests, and refrain from being dominating or too forceful.

Stress, Frequency of Challenges, and Coping for Partners of Individuals with Mental Health Conditions.

ABSTRACT This study applied Lazarus and Folkman’s stress and coping framework to understand how romantic partners cope with the challenges of a significant other’s mental health condition at three levels (i.e., individual, dyadic, and social), how coping at each of these three levels contributes to the association between stress and relational quality for these partners, and how these associations depend upon the frequency of challenges partners experience. We predicted that stress would be negatively associated with relational quality, and that individual (i.e., emotion and problem-focused), dyadic, and social coping would mediate this association. We also posited that the extent to which partners cope would depend on the frequency of challenges they face. We analyzed data from 325 individuals with a moderated multiple-mediation model. Findings provided support for the mediating role of dyadic coping and its positive association with relational quality; partial support for the mediating role of emotion-focused coping and its negative association with relational quality; and partial support for the moderating role of frequency of challenges. We discuss the study’s findings and contributions.