Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationFamily caregivers to cancer patients face stresses and burdens that may be buffered by receiving social support, and social media may provide a forum to receive support. Little research has examined how caregivers share their experiences on social media, however, and how this disclosure affects the support they receive. Guided by the model of social support elicitation and provision, this retrospective, longitudinal, descriptive study explored cancer caregivers' experience on CaringBridge to address four aims ( N = 20 public-access cases). Each case comprised all journal entries and all guestbook postings. A content analysis identified categories of caregivers' experiences: patient health information, cancer advocacy, social support, burden, daily living, emotions, and spirituality. The Social Support Behavior Coding system was used to code requests and offerings of support. Throughout the cases, there were journal entries (JEs) and guestbook posts that contained multiple requests for or offers of different types of social support. For example, a caregiver may have requested both emotional and tangible support in the same JE and a guest may have provided both emotional and tangible support in return. Caregiver requests consisted of emotional (27.76%), informational (0.77%), network (7.97%), and tangible (6.68%) support, but not esteem support. Guests offered emotional (97.51%), esteem (23.70%), informational (2.82%), network (18.19%), and tangible support (9.24%). The matching of request and offer of support was examined descriptively. When support was requested, 66.67% were matched with support within 24 hr and 70.24% within 7 days. Data visualization tools were used to explore directionality of support, changes in directionality at transition points, and changes in support over time, using postings from 3 cases. Data visualization demonstrated that support was directed at patients and families but not solely at caregivers; support direction shifted from the patient to the family at or near death for 2 of the cases; and there was a pattern of gradual decline in postings until the patient's death, when postings increased. Future research should explore ways (a) to ensure that caregivers are eliciting helpful support, (b) to examine the benefits to caregivers when the network responds with support, and (c) to develop ways to prevent support from fluctuating over time