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Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community

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What Should I Do?: Information and Support Needs Relating to Substance Use on Reddit.

Bogeum Choi¹, Lexie C Wang², Ryan A Kang³

¹School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Substance Use & Misuse

|December 5, 2025

Summary

Individuals with substance use disorders seek diverse support online, including information on quitting, emotional validation, and coping strategies. Understanding these needs can improve treatment and prevention programs.

Keywords:

Substance use contextual factors information needs recovery social media support

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Published on: January 5, 2018

Area of Science:

Social Sciences
Public Health
Digital Health

Background:

Substance use stigma drives individuals to online forums like Reddit for support.
Limited research exists on the specific informational needs of individuals with substance use disorders.
Online platforms offer a space for users to seek and share information and support related to substance use.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify and characterize the informational and support needs expressed in Reddit posts concerning substance use.
To analyze the types of support sought by individuals discussing alcohol, cannabis, and opioids online.
To understand the role of online communities in addressing substance use challenges.

Main Methods:

Qualitative content analysis of 189 Reddit posts from January 2013 to December 2019.
Dataset sampled to include posts mentioning alcohol, cannabis, or opioids.
Iterative data analysis by two researchers to ensure reliability.

Main Results:

Four main categories of needs were identified: informational, emotional, coping, and contextual factors.
Informational needs included quitting strategies, temporal information, and barriers to cessation.
Emotional needs involved validation and affirmation, while contextual factors included stigma and interpersonal challenges.

Conclusions:

Individuals with substance use disorders have multifaceted needs, encompassing informational, emotional, and coping support.
A typology of contextual dimensions for information needs in substance use is presented.
Findings offer insights for improving information dissemination in treatment, education, and prevention programs.