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How Do Care Partners of People with Rare Dementia Use Language in Online Peer Support Groups? A Quantitative Text Analysis Study

Hayes, Oliver S; El Baou, Celine; Hardy, Chris JD; Camic, Paul M; Brotherhood, Emilie V; Harding, Emma; Crutch, Sebastian J; (2024) How Do Care Partners of People with Rare Dementia Use Language in Online Peer Support Groups? A Quantitative Text Analysis Study. Healthcare , 12 (3) , Article 313. 10.3390/healthcare12030313. Green open access

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Abstract

We used quantitative text analysis to examine conversations in a series of online support groups attended by care partners of people living with rare dementias (PLWRD). We used transcripts of 14 sessions (>100,000 words) to explore patterns of communication in trained facilitators’ (n = 2) and participants’ (n = 11) speech and to investigate the impact of session agenda on language use. We investigated the features of their communication via Poisson regression and a clustering algorithm. We also compared their speech with a natural speech corpus. We found that differences to natural speech emerged, notably in emotional tone (d = −3.2, p < 0.001) and cognitive processes (d = 2.8, p < 0.001). We observed further differences between facilitators and participants and between sessions based on agenda. The clustering algorithm categorised participants’ contributions into three groups: sharing experience, self-reflection, and group processes. We discuss the findings in the context of Social Comparison Theory. We argue that dedicated online spaces have a positive impact on care partners in combatting isolation and stress via affiliation with peers. We then discuss the linguistic mechanisms by which social support was experienced in the group. The present paper has implications for any services seeking insight into how peer support is designed, delivered, and experienced by participants.

Type: Article
Title: How Do Care Partners of People with Rare Dementia Use Language in Online Peer Support Groups? A Quantitative Text Analysis Study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12030313
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12030313
Language: English
Additional information: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: dementia; text analysis; rare dementia; LIWC; support group; social comparison theory
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Neurodegenerative Diseases
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10186333
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