Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Introduction. Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a severe chronic mental health issue that significantly impacts people’s everyday lives. This study aims to reveal the contextual information needs of the people living with OCD during life transitions and how these needs dynamically evolve across...

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Main Authors: Dawei Wu, Yuxiang Chris Zhao, Yan Zhang, Shijie Song
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Borås 2024-06-01
Series:Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://informationr.net/infres/article/view/855
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author Dawei Wu
Yuxiang Chris Zhao
Yan Zhang
Shijie Song
author_facet Dawei Wu
Yuxiang Chris Zhao
Yan Zhang
Shijie Song
author_sort Dawei Wu
collection DOAJ
description Introduction. Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a severe chronic mental health issue that significantly impacts people’s everyday lives. This study aims to reveal the contextual information needs of the people living with OCD during life transitions and how these needs dynamically evolve across various transitional stages. Method. The study collected 1,500 posts from an OCD online forum of a well-known Chinese social media platform, Douban. A subsequent content analysis was performed on 324 selected valid posts. Analysis. Guiding by the information behaviour theory of transitions, two rounds of open-coding analyses were conducted on the posts. Results. Preliminary findings indicate that people with OCD have various types of contextual information needs during different transitional stages, namely understanding, negotiating, and resolving, suggested by the existing theory. Conclusion. Information needs are context-specific, complex and continuously changing during life transitions of people with OCD. Our conclusion can provide theoretical insights for future research exploring the dynamic information needs during the mental health transitions. Additionally, it serves as a preliminary conceptual framework for various stakeholders to offer informational support to people with OCD.
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spelling doaj-art-39f52cff47134f328e20fbb9a94a9c052025-02-03T10:10:34ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132024-06-0129266967910.47989/ir292855852Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorderDawei Wu0Yuxiang Chris Zhao1Yan Zhang2Shijie Song3Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyNanjing University of Science and TechnologyNanjing UniversityHohai UniversityIntroduction. Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a severe chronic mental health issue that significantly impacts people’s everyday lives. This study aims to reveal the contextual information needs of the people living with OCD during life transitions and how these needs dynamically evolve across various transitional stages. Method. The study collected 1,500 posts from an OCD online forum of a well-known Chinese social media platform, Douban. A subsequent content analysis was performed on 324 selected valid posts. Analysis. Guiding by the information behaviour theory of transitions, two rounds of open-coding analyses were conducted on the posts. Results. Preliminary findings indicate that people with OCD have various types of contextual information needs during different transitional stages, namely understanding, negotiating, and resolving, suggested by the existing theory. Conclusion. Information needs are context-specific, complex and continuously changing during life transitions of people with OCD. Our conclusion can provide theoretical insights for future research exploring the dynamic information needs during the mental health transitions. Additionally, it serves as a preliminary conceptual framework for various stakeholders to offer informational support to people with OCD.https://informationr.net/infres/article/view/855information needslife transitionshealth information practicesobsessive-compulsive disorder
spellingShingle Dawei Wu
Yuxiang Chris Zhao
Yan Zhang
Shijie Song
Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
information needs
life transitions
health information practices
obsessive-compulsive disorder
title Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder
title_full Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder
title_fullStr Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder
title_full_unstemmed Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder
title_short Contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder
title_sort contextual information needs of people in life transitions struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder
topic information needs
life transitions
health information practices
obsessive-compulsive disorder
url https://informationr.net/infres/article/view/855
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AT yuxiangchriszhao contextualinformationneedsofpeopleinlifetransitionsstrugglingwithobsessivecompulsivedisorder
AT yanzhang contextualinformationneedsofpeopleinlifetransitionsstrugglingwithobsessivecompulsivedisorder
AT shijiesong contextualinformationneedsofpeopleinlifetransitionsstrugglingwithobsessivecompulsivedisorder