I hear, I listen and I care: a qualitative investigation into the function of a self-harm message board

This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative inquiry into the interactions on a nonprofessional self-harm message board. Individuals using the message board were very positive about the message board and appeared to feel that their needs for support, venting, and validation were being met. However, we found that negative harmful behaviors mentioned in messages posted on the board were either not acknowledged, or were legitimized and normalized by those who responded to the messages. We suggest that this process of minimizing the seriousness and/or normalizing the behaviors may actually be encouraging the maintenance of such behaviors and therefore conclude that caution should be exercised when using nonprofessional self-harm message boards.     

Internet message boards for suicidal people: a typology of users.

Clinical psychological discourse contains a varied array of evaluations of the risks and/or benefits of Internet message boards where people can discuss their suicidal thoughts. Public opinion contends they are harmful. To assess this assumption, an online questionnaire (N = 164) survey was conducted on a German message board for suicidal people. Three user types were identified with differing motives for visiting the forum and different usage effects of the message board. The results contradict the assumptions that suicide message boards are generally a source of potential harm and that they foster suicidal tendencies and point instead to their predominantly constructive or even suicide-preventive functions.     

A Review of Psychosocial Factors in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a disabling pain condition poorly understood by medical professionals. Because CRPS is particularly enigmatic, and has significant impact on patient function, researchers have examined psychological processes present among patients with this diagnosis. This systematic review examines psychosocial factors associated with CRPS, both predictors and sequelae. Our conclusions are that CRPS is associated with negative outcomes, both psychological (e.g., increased depression and anxiety) and psychosocial (e.g., reduced quality of life, impaired occupational function) in nature. However, research does not reveal support for specific personality or psychopathology predictors of the condition.     

Decreased levels of N-acetylaspartate in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in a case of intractable severe sympathetically mediated chronic pain (complex regional pain syndrome,type I)

In our previous in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) study we found reduced levels of N-acetylaspartate in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of chronic back pain patients. This study tests whether these chemical abnormalities can be detected in other pain states. Using (1)H MRS, we measured levels for N-acetylaspartate and other identifiable chemicals relative to creatine in four bilateral brain regions, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate, and thalamus, in a case of intractable severe sympathetically mediated chronic pain [complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type I]. The subject's chemical variations in the brain were compared to the same regional chemicals in 10 normal subjects (age- and sex-matched). Univariate statistics showed reduced levels of N-acetylaspartate in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and increased levels of myo-inositol in left orbitofrontal cortex of the patient with intractable severe CRPS type I. These data support our original hypothesis that depletion of N-acetylaspartate in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is a chemical marker of chronic pain, indicating for neuronal degeneration. Unpredicted changes of orbitofrontal myo-inositol may be related to the specific mood/affective state in an extreme pain perception. This is the first report, which identifies chemical markers in the prefrontal cortex for objective measurement and monitoring of CRPS type I. This information might lead to valuable insights into diagnosis and future effective interventions of CRPS type I (e.g., prefrontal brain stimulation).     

Every scar tells a story: Insight into people’s self-injury scar experiences

Scarring, a common and salient consequence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), remains an under-explored issue in the field. Thus, the current investigation explored NSSI scar perspectives using online testimony from members of a popular NSSI message board; focus was attenuated to a series of message board posts pertinent to people’s experiences with scars resulting from NSSI. Data (message board posts) were collected using the website’s search function. A total of 53 posts involving discussion of people’s NSSI scar perceptions and experiences were retained. A thematic analysis of the data indicated that individuals viewed their scars in a number of ways. Many viewed scars in a resilient manner, often in the context of a self-narrative. Others, however, were unaccepting of their scars (e.g. expressed feelings of shame, hatred, or disgust). For some, they were able to gradually accept their scars but only after a period of difficulty. And, finally, some individuals expressed mixed feelings toward their scars (e.g. a love/hate relationship). Hence, scars stemming from NSSI seem to differentially impact individuals who self-injure. Possible implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Supportive Distortions: An Analysis of Posts on a Pedophile Internet Message Board

A covert observation of posts on a pro‐pedophile Internet message board investigated evidence of distorted cognitions that were supportive of sexually abusive behavior. Implications for the treatment and supervision of members of online communities that support pedophilic interests and behaviors are discussed.     

Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: evidence from experimental and observational studies

Two studies examined the association between attachment style and perceptions of social support. Study 1 (N = 95 couples) used an experimental paradigm to manipulate social support in the context of a stressful task. Insecure participants (anxious and avoidant) who received low-support messages appraised these messages more negatively, rated a prior behavioral interaction with their partner as having been less supportive, and performed significantly worse at their task compared with secure participants. Study 2 (N = 153 couples) used a similar paradigm except that partners were allowed to send genuine support messages. Insecure participants (especially fearful) perceived their partners' messages as less supportive, even after controlling for independent ratings of the messages and relationship-specific expectations. These studies provide evidence that individuals are predisposed to appraise their support experiences in ways that are consistent with their chronic working models of attachment, especially when the support message is ambiguous.     

Measuring Television Message Complexity as Available Processing Resources: Dimensions of Information and Cognitive Load

This article further tests the theoretical hypotheses supporting the use of number of camera changes (cc) and information introduced (ii) as indicators of resources allocated and resources required to process television messages. These two measures, combined, yield an indicator of available resources and can, therefore, be used as an indicator of television message complexity. Previous research has validated their use, averaged over time, as a global measure of message complexity. The two studies reported here test the underlying local complexity predictions and present support from two studies for the ii, cc combination as a valid indicator of local message complexity. Study 1 demonstrates that when a camera change has an increasing number of ii dimensions available resources become scarcer, eventually reaching cognitive overload. Study 2 examines the relative level of resources required for each of the seven dimensions, and demonstrates that specific theoretical groupings of dimensions (novelty, motivational, and cognitive) show differential impact on available resources. Results show that the individual dimensions increase required resources as predicted and that emotion change is the most cognitively taxing dimension. Together, the two studies increase our understanding of how the number of dimensions each individual dimension of ii increases cognitive load and provide strong support for the measure as an indicator of local message complexity.     

The effect of perceived message choice on persuasion

We argue that giving individuals a sense of choice over the product information they receive (i.e., message choice) can have important subsequent effects when individuals are prompted to make inferences about the company. Even when the product information that is received is exactly the same, being given a sense of choice can produce more favorable company evaluations and in turn, more favorable product judgments. The first two experiments support these hypotheses using different means of prompting company inferences: when prompted, those who had been given message choice judged the company more favorably and were more willing to purchase from that company. The third experiment illustrates when message choice effects can backfire. Specifically, when the company itself highlights the provision of message choice in the ad, and consumers are prompted to make inferences about the company, message choice can backfire because it may be perceived as a persuasion tactic rather than a sincere attempt to inform. The results support company evaluations as the mediator of message choice effects and rule out alternate accounts based on dissonance, elaboration, reactance and self-labeling explanations. These findings are important in interactive media environments where marketers have opportunities and imperatives to give consumers a sense of choice in message selection.     

Facial expressions allow inference of both emotions and their components

Following Yik and Russell (1999) a judgement paradigm was used to examine to what extent differential accuracy of recognition of facial expressions allows evaluation of the well-foundedness of different theoretical views on emotional expression. Observers judged photos showing facial expressions of seven emotions on the basis of: (1) discrete emotion categories; (2) social message types; (3) appraisal results; or (4) action tendencies, and rated their confidence in making choices. Emotion categories and appraisals were judged significantly more accurately and confidently than messages or action tendencies. These results do not support claims of primacy for message or action tendency views of facial expression. Based on a componential model of emotion it is suggested that judges can infer components from categories and vice versa.     

Women with <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1</Emphasis> or <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA2</Emphasis> Mutations Renegotiating a Post-Prophylactic Mastectomy Identity: Self-Image and Self-Disclosure.

The Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) website is devoted to women at risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. One of the most frequently discussed topics on the archived messaged board has been prophylactic mastectomy (PM) for women with a BRCA1/2 mutation. We reviewed the messages, over a 4 year period, of 21 high risk women and their “conversational” partners who originally posted on a thread about genetic testing, genetic counseling and family history. We used a qualitative research inductive process involving close reading, coding and identification of recurrent patterns, relationships and processes in the data. The women sought emotional support, specific experiential knowledge and information from each other. They frequently found revealing their post PM status problematic because of possible negative reactions and adopted self-protective strategies of evasion and concealment outside of their web-based community. The FORCE message board was considered to be a safe place in which the women could be truthful about their choices and feelings. Results are discussed in terms of Goffman’s concepts “stigma” and “disclosure” and Charmaz’s concepts “interruptions,” “intrusions” and a “dreaded future.”     

Identity salience moderates processing of group-relevant information

When an individual is categorized as a member of a group, the individual’s social identity becomes his or her frame for perceiving the world. This research investigates how information can be perceived and processed differently when relevant social identities are salient. In two studies, participants’ individual, student, or American identities were made salient before they read strong or weak arguments in favor of the institution of comprehensive exams at their university in 10 years time. In both studies, student-salient participants analytically processed the message whereas self-salient (Study 1) and American-salient (Study 2) participants failed to agree differentially with strong and weak messages. These data suggest that social-identity salience changes the information that individuals consider relevant, providing clear support for the contention that social identities have a profound impact on the way individuals perceive and interact with the world around them.     

When reasons matter: Quality of support affects reactions to increasing and consistent agreement

Evidence indicates that moving from a minority to a majority position has little impact on group identification. The present study investigated how reactions of former minorities and stable minorities to the group as a whole and their own faction were moderated by the quality of support they received for their position (genuine vs. superficial vs. unexplained). Former minorities identified more strongly with the group when others converted to their position for genuine than for superficial (or unexplained) reasons. The group identification of stable minorities did not vary as a function of the quality of support. Both former minorities and stable minorities identified more with their own faction when they received genuine than superficial (or unexplained) support. These findings clarify the important role of quality of support in group and faction identification. Moreover, they show that former minorities do identify with the group when they receive support they can trust.     

Accurate monitoring leads to effective control and greater learning of patient education materials

Effective management of chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes) can depend on the extent to which patients can learn and remember disease-relevant information. In two experiments, we explored a technique motivated by theories of self-regulated learning for improving people's learning of information relevant to managing a chronic disease. Materials were passages from patient education booklets on diabetes from NIDDK. Session 1 included an initial study trial, Session 2 included self-regulated restudy, and Session 3 included a final memory test. The key manipulation concerned the kind of support provided for self-regulated learning during Session 2. In Experiment 1, participants either were prompted to self-test and then evaluate their learning before selecting passages to restudy, were shown the prompt questions but did not overtly self-test or evaluate learning prior to selecting passages, or were not shown any prompts and were simply given the menu for selecting passages to restudy. Participants who self-tested and evaluated learning during Session 2 had a small but significant advantage over the other groups on the final test. Secondary analyses provided evidence that the performance advantage may have been modest because of inaccurate monitoring. Experiment 2 included a group who also self-tested but who evaluated their learning using idea-unit judgments (i.e., by checking their responses against a list of key ideas from the correct response). Participants who self-tested and made idea-unit judgments exhibited a sizable advantage on final test performance. Secondary analyses indicated that the performance advantage was attributable in part to more accurate monitoring and more effective self-regulated learning. An important practical implication is that learning of patient education materials can be enhanced by including appropriate support for learners' self-regulatory processes.     

On Certain Limitations Accompanying Readers' Interpretations of Corrections in Episodic Text

Where information concerning an ongoing event is acquired piecemeal over time, it may become necessary to correct a particular item of information after it is first encountered. Previous work (Johnson & Seifert, 1994; Wilkes & Leatherbarrow, 1988) has shown that if the content targeted for correction is thematically salient, neither a delayed nor an immediate correction may be sufficient to suppress its influence when subjects are subsequently tested for their comprehension of the message sequence as a whole. The present experiments are aimed at clarifying the conditions under which corrections fail to achieve their intended effects. In Experiment 1, message sequences were prepared in which the correction occurred midway in the text. It was found that the pre- or post-correction status of a message had no bearing on how it was interpreted on a later test of comprehension; both types of statements were equally likely to be associated with inferences based on the discredited message. In Experiment 2 the message targeted for correction could be directly linked to only one other message in the overall sequence. Despite this reduction in the scope of the correction, illegitimate inferences based on the discredited source continued to be made during comprehension testing. These results suggest that the critical inferences were made at the time of comprehension testing and are interpreted as providing support for the minimalist stance on the incidence of on-line inferencing during normal reading.     

Can Messages Make a Difference? The Association Between E‐Mail Messages and Health Outcomes in Diabetes Patients

This investigation examined the impact of social support messages on patient health outcomes. Forty‐one American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian patients received a total of 618 e‐mail messages from their healthcare provider (HCP). The e‐mail messages were divided into 3,565 message units and coded for instances of emotional social support. Patient glycosulated hemoglobin scores (HbA1c) showed significantly improved glycemic control and emotional social support messages were associated with significant decreases in HbA1c values. Patient involvement with the system, measured by system login frequency and the frequency of uploaded blood glucose scores to the HCP, did not predict change in HbA1c.     

Self-affirmation and the biased processing of threatening health-risk information

Self-affirming before reading about the link between alcohol and breast cancer promoted increased message acceptance among young women at higher risk. Differences were maintained on variables measured up to 1 month later. Relative to their nonaffirmed counterparts, higher risk, self-affirmed participants had higher ratings of risk, imagination, intention to reduce alcohol consumption, and negative affect, such as fear, while reading the leaflet. In contrast, there were no differences between the groups on measures of broader message acceptance (belief in the link, evidence strength). Thus, self-affirmation promoted acceptance of the personal relevance of the message, a critical step in the precaution adoption process. Overall, the findings support the view that self-affirmation in an unrelated domain can offset defensive processing of a threatening health message, promoting central route persuasion and producing consequential and durable increases in message acceptance.     

Experiential and Physiological Responses to Interpersonal Influence

In this study, we examined the linkages between two important features of influence messages, explicitness and dominance, and emotional response. Two positions were considered. From politeness theory, we deduced that judgments of the politeness of the message would mediate the effects of message form on emotional response. Consideration of cognitive appraisal theories suggested judgments of goal blockage and legitimacy would assume the role of mediators. Participants took part in two role-plays in which they adopted the role of the influence target and listened to an audiotape of a request to change their behavior. Self-report and physiological data were gathered as indicators of their emotional responses to the influence messages. The findings indicated some support for both politeness and appraisal theories, but also suggested that neither one constituted a thorough explanation of the effects of influence messages on emotions.     

Transitioning from a hospital rehabilitation programme to home: exploring the experiences of people with complex regional pain syndrome

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is difficult to diagnose and is characterised by burning pain in one or more limbs. Treatment is palliative not curative and focuses on improving function. This requires patients to make long-term changes to their behaviour. As with all such regimens, adherence is often poor. This study explored the lived experience of 10 patients who had returned home after completing a two-week in-patient treatment programme. The interviews focused on how they coped with the transition from hospital to home, and on the things that they considered had facilitated or hindered this transition. Battling for control was an overarching theme that connected the four superordinate themes: 'gaining momentum' that facilitated the implementation of treatment advice, 'distance from the pool of expertise' that detailed the barriers to adherence experienced; 'It helped me realise it was not all in my head' that detailed a facilitative process, and the 'nag list' that was a technique patients' used to garner support. This article offers insights into the transition experience. A key outcome is the recognition of the need to better prepare patients for their transition back home.