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Online Mental Health Communities (OMHCs), such as Reddit, have witnessed a surge in popularity as go-to platforms for seeking information and support in managing mental health needs. Platforms like Reddit offer immediate interactions with…
Recent years have seen a rise in social media platforms that provide peer-to-peer support to individuals suffering from mental distress. Studies on the impact of these platforms have focused on either short-term scales of single-post…
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used for emotional support and mental health-related interactions outside clinical settings, yet little is known about how people evaluate and relate to these systems in everyday use. We analyze…
Informal caregivers (e.g.,family members or friends) of people living with Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) face substantial challenges and often seek informational or emotional support through online communities.…
Online support communities have become vital spaces offering varied forms of support to individuals facing mental health challenges. Despite the proliferation of platforms with distinct technical structures, little is known about how these…
A growing number of people engage in online health forums, making it important to understand the quality of the advice they receive. In this paper, we explore the role of expertise in responses provided to help-seeking posts regarding…
Effective mental health support is crucial for alleviating psychological distress. While large language model (LLM)-based assistants have shown promise in mental health interventions, existing research often defines "effective" support…
Purpose: With the rise of mental health risks globally, it is urgent to provide effective mental health support. However, a holistic understanding of how people seek help for mental health problems remains limited, impeding the development…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people will be affected by mental disorders at some point in their lives. However, in many parts of the world, patients do not actively seek professional diagnosis because of…
Background: Conversational AI chatbots are emerging as scalable mental health tools, but little is known about real world engagement or its relationship to clinical outcomes. Objective: To characterize engagement phenotypes among users of…
Social media platforms, particularly Reddit's r/Epilepsy community, offer a unique perspective into the experiences of individuals with epilepsy (PWE) and their caregivers. This study analyzes 57k posts and 533k comments to explore key…
Recent research has established both a theoretical basis and strong empirical evidence that effective social behavior plays a beneficial role in the maintenance of physical and psychological well-being of people. To test whether social…
Online health communities offer the promise of support benefits to users, in particular because these communities enable users to find peers with similar experiences. Building mutually supportive connections between peers is a key…
Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions globally, posing serious risks to mental and physical health. As social media platforms increasingly mediate social interaction, understanding their relationship with loneliness has become urgent.…
The increasing demand for mental health services has highlighted the need for innovative solutions, particularly in the realm of psychological conversational AI, where the availability of sensitive data is scarce. In this work, we explored…
This study explores the impact of peer acknowledgement on learner engagement and implicit psychological attributes in written annotations on an online social reading platform. Participants included 91 undergraduates from a large North…
Empathy is critical to successful mental health support. Empathy measurement has predominantly occurred in synchronous, face-to-face settings, and may not translate to asynchronous, text-based contexts. Because millions of people use…
Social media platforms have become pivotal as self-help forums, enabling individuals to share personal experiences and seek support. However, on topics as sensitive as depression, what are the consequences of online self-disclosure? Here,…
Internet and online-based social systems are rising as the dominant mode of communication in society. However, the public or semi-private environment under which most online communications operate under do not make them suitable channels…
Although analyzing user behavior within individual communities is an active and rich research domain, people usually interact with multiple communities both on- and off-line. How do users act in such multi-community environments? Although…