IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jinfst/v74y2023i11p1243-1264.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

More is better? Understanding the effects of online interactions on patients health anxiety

Author

Listed:
  • Zhaohua Deng
  • Zihao Deng
  • Guorui Fan
  • Bin Wang
  • Weiguo (Patrick) Fan
  • Shan Liu

Abstract

Online health platforms play an important role in chronic disease management. Patients participate in online health platforms to receive and provide health‐related support from each other. However, there remains a debate about whether the influence of social interaction on patient health anxiety is linearly positive. Based on uncertainty, information overload, and the theory of motivational information management, we develop and test a model considering a potential curvilinear relationship between social interaction and health anxiety, as well as a moderating effect of health literacy. We collect patient interaction data from an online health platform based on chronic disease management in China and use text mining and econometrics to test our hypotheses. Specifically, we find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between informational provision and health anxiety. Our results also show that information receipt and emotion provision have U‐shaped relationships with health anxiety. Interestingly, health literacy can effectively alleviate the U‐shaped relationship between information receipt and health anxiety. These findings not only provide new insights into the literature on online patient interactions but also provide decision support for patients and platform managers.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhaohua Deng & Zihao Deng & Guorui Fan & Bin Wang & Weiguo (Patrick) Fan & Shan Liu, 2023. "More is better? Understanding the effects of online interactions on patients health anxiety," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 74(11), pages 1243-1264, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:74:y:2023:i:11:p:1243-1264
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.24822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24822
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/asi.24822?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bev J. Holmes & Natalie Henrich & Sara Hancock & Valia Lestou, 2009. "Communicating with the public during health crises: experts' experiences and opinions," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 793-807, September.
    2. Xiongfei Cao & Dan Wang, 2018. "The role of online communities in reducing urban–rural health disparities in China," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(7), pages 890-899, July.
    3. Tânia Morgado & Luís Loureiro & Maria Antónia Rebelo Botelho & Maria Isabel Marques & José Ramón Martínez-Riera & Pedro Melo, 2021. "Adolescents’ Empowerment for Mental Health Literacy in School: A Pilot Study on ProLiSMental Psychoeducational Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-14, July.
    4. Yanli Zhang & Xinmiao Li & Weiguo Fan, 2020. "User adoption of physician's replies in an online health community: An empirical study," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(10), pages 1179-1191, October.
    5. Chihiro Nakayama & Osamu Sato & Minoru Sugita & Takeo Nakayama & Yujiro Kuroda & Masatsugu Orui & Hajime Iwasa & Seiji Yasumura & Rima E Rudd, 2019. "Lingering health-related anxiety about radiation among Fukushima residents as correlated with media information following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Joshua Introne & Ingrid Erickson & Bryan Semaan & Sean Goggins, 2020. "Designing sustainable online support: Examining the effects of design change in 49 online health support communities," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(4), pages 379-394, April.
    7. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    8. Croissant, Yves & Millo, Giovanni, 2008. "Panel Data Econometrics in R: The plm Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 27(i02).
    9. Schick, Allen G. & Gordon, Lawrence A. & Haka, Susan, 1990. "Information overload: A temporal approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 199-220.
    10. Doucé, Lieve & Adams, Carmen, 2020. "Sensory overload in a shopping environment: Not every sensory modality leads to too much stimulation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    11. Lu Yan & Yong Tan, 2014. "Feeling Blue? Go Online: An Empirical Study of Social Support Among Patients," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 690-709, December.
    12. Chewning, Eugene Jr & Harrell, Adrian M., 1990. "The effect of information load on decision makers' cue utilization levels and decision quality in a financial distress decision task," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 527-542.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maren Hartmann & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2024. "Information overload research in accounting: a systematic review of the literature," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 1619-1667, September.
    2. Heesen, Florian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "Consumer Behavior in Energy-Efficient Homes: The Limited Merits of Energy Performance Ratings as Benchmarks," FCN Working Papers 17/2016, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    3. Schier, Franziska & Morland, Christian & Dieter, Matthias & Weimar, Holger, 2021. "Estimating supply and demand elasticities of dissolving pulp, lignocellulose-based chemical derivatives and textile fibres in an emerging forest-based bioeconomy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    4. Massimiliano Celli & Simona Arduini & Tommaso Beck, 2024. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and His Future Application Scenario for Italian SMEs," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 19(4), pages 1-44, July.
    5. Stocks, Morris H. & Harrell, Adrian, 1995. "The impact of an increase in accounting information level on the judgment quality of individuals and groups," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(7-8), pages 685-700.
    6. David N Wear & Jeffrey P Prestemon, 2019. "Spatiotemporal downscaling of global population and income scenarios for the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, July.
    7. Eduardo Correia & Rodrigo Calili & José Francisco Pessanha & Maria Fatima Almeida, 2023. "Definition of Regulatory Targets for Electricity Non-Technical Losses: Proposition of an Automatic Model-Selection Technique for Panel Data Regressions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-22, March.
    8. Tianchang Ni & Runping Zhu & Richard Krever, 2023. "Responses to News Overload in a Non-Partisan Environment: News Avoidance in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    9. Tomi Rajala, 2019. "Mind the Information Expectation Gap," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(1), pages 104-125, March.
    10. repec:ces:ifodic:v:13:y:2015:i:3:p:19173869 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Miomir Jovanović & Ljiljana Kašćelan & Aleksandra Despotović & Vladimir Kašćelan, 2015. "The Impact of Agro-Economic Factors on GHG Emissions: Evidence from European Developing and Advanced Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Walid Oueslati & Seraphim Alvanides & Guy Garrod, 2015. "Determinants of urban sprawl in European cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(9), pages 1594-1614, July.
    13. Mattia Guidi, 2015. "The Impact of Independence on Regulatory Outcomes: the Case of EU Competition Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 1195-1213, November.
    14. Peter Gordon Roetzel, 2019. "Information overload in the information age: a review of the literature from business administration, business psychology, and related disciplines with a bibliometric approach and framework developmen," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(2), pages 479-522, December.
    15. Kimball L. Chapman & Nayana Reiter & Hal D. White & Christopher D. Williams, 2019. "Information overload and disclosure smoothing," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1486-1522, December.
    16. Weigert, Andreas & Hopf, Konstantin & Günther, Sebastian A. & Staake, Thorsten, 2022. "Heat pump inspections result in large energy savings when a pre-selection of households is performed: A promising use case of smart meter data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    17. Chandra, Shalini & Shirish, Anuragini & Srivastava, Shirish C., 2020. "Theorizing technological spatial intrusion for ICT enabled employee innovation: The mediating role of perceived usefulness," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    18. Elena Toader & Bogdan Narcis Firtescu & Angela Roman & Sorin Gabriel Anton, 2018. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure on Economic Growth: An Empirical Assessment for the EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    19. Berggrun, Luis & Lizarzaburu, Edmundo, 2015. "Fund flows and performance in Brazil," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 199-207.
    20. F. Di Lascio & Simone Giannerini & Antonello Scorcu & Guido Candela, 2011. "Cultural tourism and temporary art exhibitions in Italy: a panel data analysis," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 20(4), pages 519-542, November.
    21. Jansen, E. Pieter, 2002. "The use of performance information case studies in local social services departments," Research Report 02A19, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jinfst:v:74:y:2023:i:11:p:1243-1264. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.asis.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.