@article{MohdRoffeei2015375,
title = {Seeking social support on Facebook for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs)},
author = {S H Mohd Roffeei and N Abdullah and S K R Basar},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84924517643&doi=10.1016%2fj.ijmedinf.2015.01.015&partnerID=40&md5=7296825093cbf87388b5b65023e59371},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2015.01.015},
issn = {13865056},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-01-01},
journal = {International Journal of Medical Informatics},
volume = {84},
number = {5},
pages = {375-385},
publisher = {Elsevier Ireland Ltd},
abstract = {Purpose: This study examined the types of social support messages exchanged between parents and/or caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) who communicate via Facebook (FB); it studies two autism support groups: Autism Malaysia (AM) and Autism Children Club (ACA). Method: A total of 3637 messages including both postings (381) and comments (3256) were gathered from August to November 2013. The study employed a deductive content-analysis approach. The qualitative data were analyzed for social support themes adapted from the Social Support Behavior Code (SSBC). Before collecting the data, email was sent to the FB groups' moderators to gain formal consent from the members. Result: The finding indicated that the highest percentage of messages offered dealt with Informational support (30.7%) followed by Emotional support (27.8%). Network and Esteem support messages were responsible for 20.97% and 20.2%, respectively. Tangible Assistance was the least frequent category (0.4%). A majority of these messages discussed and addressed challenges and difficulties associated with caring and raising ASD children, as well as issues such as children's social lives and self-care routines. Conclusion: Understandings of how FB is used to seek social support could impact supporting and maintaining effective communication among parents and/or caregivers of children with ASDs. This information could also improve approaches used by health professionals in developing, improving and evaluating social support systems for parents/caregivers. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.},
note = {cited By 43},
keywords = {Article, ASD, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Caregiver, Children, Consumer Health Information, Content Analysis, Diseases, E-mail, Facebook, Family, Friendship, Human, Internet, Parents, Patient Referral, Priority Journal, Psychology, Qualitative Analysis, Self Esteem, Social Media, Social Networking, Social Support, Statistics, Support Group, Telemedicine, Utilization},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}