Exploring member's knowledge sharing intention in online health communities: The effects of social support and overload

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 3; p. e0265628
• Main Author: Yen, Chiahui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 24.03.2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Biology and Life Sciences; Caregivers; Child; Children; Communities of interest; Community; Community participation; Computer and Information Sciences; Dementia disorders; Health aspects; Humans; Intention; Knowledge sharing; Medicine and Health Sciences; Overloading; Psychological factors; Psychological stress; Self Efficacy; Social aspects; Social interactions; Social networks; Social organization; Social Sciences; Social Support; Stress; Surveys and Questionnaires; User behavior; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265628

This study explores the determinants of members' participation intention in online health communities (OHC) from both the facilitators and barriers points of view. From the facilitators perspective, each member's subjective well-being plays a crucial role in sharing intention. On the other hand, from the barriers point of view, social network site exhaustion would negatively affect. The survey was conducted on two online support groups, including parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and caregivers of dementia disease. This study collected 330 questionnaires from social network sites to examine the research model. The results showed that social support positively affects members' self-efficacy; in turn, self-efficacy has a positive effect on subjective well-being. Overload has an impact on psychological distress. Moreover, members' subjective well-being determined their knowledge sharing intention.