Forging Online Community Among People in Recovery From Substance Use: Natural Language Processing and Deep-Learning...

Mobile apps are powerful tools for promoting and sustaining healthy behaviors, including supporting diverse recovery pathways from substance use, including alcohol use disorder. Indeed, prior research strongly supports the notion that social connection through mobile platforms, supplemented by an in-person interaction, is vital in helping individuals strengthen their recovery and improve overall well-being and mental health. However, research into the digital footprints of mobile app users, as a strategy to assess app usage experiences in a recovery context, is lacking.

This study utilizes a dataset from The Phoenix app, a social media platform specifically designed for individuals impacted by substance use, including those in or seeking recovery, to identify core uses of the app, including how it is leveraged by members from a thematic and emotional valence context.

We applied natural language processing and deep learning methods to analyze a random sample of 19,685 posts. Analyses included the Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers topic modeling tool to generate themes and a Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner sentiment analysis to approximate emotional tone and mood from posts ranging from highly negative (-0.99) to highly positive (0.99).

After removing duplicate and nonsensical posts, we retained a final sample size of 17,617 posts. Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers topic modeling tool identified 10 topics (coherence score=0.48) within 2 overarching themes: (1) those related to engaging app members through in-person and online interactions (7 topics) and (2) as a forum to discuss more serious topics pertaining to substance use and mental health recovery (3 topics). Overall, the topics revealed a distinct and recurring theme of community support. Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner sentiment analysis was 0.44 (SD 0.42), indicating highly positive posts, with only 429 (2.4%) being highly negative.

The study findings broadly show positive uses of The Phoenix app as a tool for social connections and community among people in recovery from substance use. With the high positive sentiment of posts, the app was distinct from other social media platforms (eg, X, Reddit, Facebook), which often feature a mix of highly positive and highly negative posts. Additional research is needed to confirm these results using a larger dataset and with comparative analysis of other recovery forums to contribute to the understanding of social media's role and function in changing health-related behaviors.