A smartphone-based support group for alcoholism: Effects of giving and receiving emotional support on coping self-efficacy and risky drinking

Woohyun Yoo, Dhavan V. Shah, Ming Yuan Chih, David H. Gustafson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature and effects of exchanging emotional support via a smartphone-based support group for patients with alcohol dependence. Of the 349 patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for alcohol dependence, 153 patients participated in the discussion group within the Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System, a smartphone application aimed at reducing relapse. This was developed to prevent problem drinking by offering individuals in recovery for alcohol dependence automated 24/7 recovery support services and frequent assessment of their symptom status as part of their addiction care. The results showed that receiving emotional support from health care providers improved coping self-efficacy. Giving emotional support and receiving emotional support from health care providers acted as a buffer, protecting patients from the harmful effects of emotional distress on risky drinking. Clinicians and researchers should use the features of smartphone-based support groups to reach out to alcoholic patients in need and encourage them to participate in the exchange of emotional support with others.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1764-1776
Number of pages13
JournalHealth Informatics Journal
Volume26
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.

Funding

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1434-8097 Yoo Woohyun Incheon National University, South Korea Shah Dhavan V University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA Chih Ming-Yuan University of Kentucky, USA Gustafson David H University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA Woohyun Yoo, Department of Mass Communication, Institute of Social Sciences, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22012, South Korea. Email: [email protected] 12 2019 1460458219888403 © The Author(s) 2019 2019 SAGE Publications This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ( https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage ). The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature and effects of exchanging emotional support via a smartphone-based support group for patients with alcohol dependence. Of the 349 patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for alcohol dependence, 153 patients participated in the discussion group within the Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System, a smartphone application aimed at reducing relapse. This was developed to prevent problem drinking by offering individuals in recovery for alcohol dependence automated 24/7 recovery support services and frequent assessment of their symptom status as part of their addiction care. The results showed that receiving emotional support from health care providers improved coping self-efficacy. Giving emotional support and receiving emotional support from health care providers acted as a buffer, protecting patients from the harmful effects of emotional distress on risky drinking. Clinicians and researchers should use the features of smartphone-based support groups to reach out to alcoholic patients in need and encourage them to participate in the exchange of emotional support with others. alcoholism eHealth emotional support mHealth online social support smartphone-based support group National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism https://doi.org/10.13039/100000027 R01 AA017192 edited-state corrected-proof typesetter ts1 Declaration of conflicting interests The authors(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by grant R01 AA017192 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. ORCID iD Woohyun Yoo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1434-8097

FundersFunder number
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and AlcoholismR01AA017192

    Keywords

    • alcoholism
    • eHealth
    • emotional support
    • mHealth
    • online social support
    • smartphone-based support group

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Health Informatics

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