The Effects of Expressing Religious Support Online for Breast Cancer Patients |
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Authors: | Bryan Mclaughlin JungHwan Yang Woohyun Yoo Bret Shaw Soo Yun Kim Dhavan Shah |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Advertising, Texas Tech University;2. School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Madison–Wisconsin;3. Survey &4. Health Policy Research Center, Dongguck University;5. Life Sciences Communication, University of Madison–Wisconsin |
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Abstract: | The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health communication literature. Although religious support expression is characterized as a typical subdimension of emotional support, we argue that in the context of a life-threatening illness, the inclusion of a religious component creates a unique communication process. Using data from an online group for women with breast cancer, we test a theoretical expression effects model. Results demonstrate that for breast cancer patients, religious support expression has distinct effects from general emotional support messages, which highlights the need to further theorize expression effects along these lines. |
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