From help-seeking to contribution: The role of health empowerment in online health communities.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to examine a potential empowerment-based pathway through which received social support is associated with contribution-oriented behaviors in online health communities. Specifically, it investigates whether health empowerment mediates the relationship between social support and community citizenship behavior. DESIGN: A cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was conducted. METHODS: Data were collected from members of online health communities. After screening and quality control procedures, 353 valid responses were retained. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the proposed relationships. RESULTS: Informational support, emotional support, and companionship were positively associated with health empowerment. Health empowerment was positively associated with all four dimensions of community citizenship behaviors, including feedback, advocacy, helping, and tolerance. User type significantly moderated the relationship between informational support and health empowerment, indicating that informational support had a stronger association with health empowerment among family members than among patients. However, user type did not moderate the associations of emotional support or companionship with health empowerment. CONCLUSION: Health empowerment mediates the association between social support and community citizenship behaviors in online health communities. Informational support appears particularly important for family members. These findings provide cross-sectional evidence for an empowerment-based pathway linking supportive interactions to contribution-oriented behaviors, offering practical insights for online health community managers seeking to encourage members' voluntary contributions.