Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Arthritis-Related Support in a Social Media Group for Quilting Hobbyists: Qualitative Study
Norina Gasteiger1, Rebecca Grainger2, Karen Day1
1Health Systems, School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Background:
People with arthritis are increasingly seeking support online, particularly for information about social role participation while experiencing symptoms of chronic arthritis. Social media enables peer-to-peer support on how serious leisure (eg, hobbies such as quilting) can be adapted to allow participation. Research is needed to understand what type of peer support is provided online and how this support occurs.
Objective:
The aim of our study was to explore what kind of support is offered by fellow hobbyists (with or without arthritis) in response to requests for advice in a social media group.
Methods:
Three vignettes were posted on a Facebook quilting group regarding arthritis-related symptoms or impairments that affect how people quilt. A Facebook Insights report was used to examine the groups' demographics. Responses to the vignettes were thematically analyzed.
Results:
The members of the quilting Facebook group were mostly women (18,376/18,478, 99.45%), aged 55 to 64 years, and most were located in the United States. In response to the vignettes, the 22 participants predominantly offered emotional support and shared information. Participants shared their real-life experiences and creative means in adapting medical advice to their crafting. More than half (30/54, 56%) of the advice that was offered aligned with the OrthoInfo medical best practice guidelines relevant to the vignettes.
Conclusions:
Serious leisure social media groups can be useful forums for sharing information about arthritis-related issues. People do respond to requests for support and information, although there is a difference between quilting support (eg, "I need a new iron, what should I buy?") and health support (eg, "I have arthritis, what scissors should I buy?"). People provide emotional support for life events on serious leisure social media platforms (eg, offering condolences when a person states that she is making a memory quilt), and this extends to health issues when group members reveal them.
More Related Videos
09:18Author Spotlight: Isolation and Culture of Primary Synovial Macrophages and Fibroblasts from Murine Arthritis Tissue
Published on: February 24, 2023
08:53Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community
Published on: May 31, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Social Proof
Social Scripts
Qualitative Analysis
For instance, group IV...
Qualitative Analysis
There are two main approaches to qualitative analysis:...
Social Traps
Social Facilitation