A Social Capital Perspective to Understand Individual Contribution of Social Support in Healthcare Virtual Support Communities

Drawing from social capital theory, this study attempts to present a model that applies the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital to theorize the determinants of the provision of informational and emotional support in healthcare virtual support communities. The results show that individual provision of emotional support is determined by his/her extent of social interaction with other community members, and his/her social identification with the community. Moreover, one´s contribution of informational support can be predicted by his/her level of healthcare-related expertise.