Understanding Safety in Online Mental Health Forums: Realist Evaluation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Online forums are used widely to facilitate mental health peer support. However, concerns exist regarding potential harm associated with their use, and little is known about forum safety from the user's perspective.

Objective

This study sought to understand how users experience safety within online mental health peer support forums. Following previous research, safety was conceptualized with reference to both experiences of harm and feelings of interpersonal safety within the forum environment.

Methods

Data were collected from 42 semistructured realist interviews and 504 cross-sectional survey responses from users of 3 UK-based online mental health forums. These included a forum hosted by a health service provider with subforums for anxiety, depression, and

SUBMITTER: Marshall P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12227176 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature