Perceived barriers to psychiatric help-seeking in South Korea by age groups: Text mining analyses of social media big data (Preprint)

BACKGROUND In South Korea, the psychiatric treatment gap is huge. Sociocultural context, such as stigma attached to mental illness, limit opportunities for professional help-seeking. OBJECTIVE This study uses TM of the internet to investigate barriers by age groups to receiving psychiatric treatment. METHODS A corpus of data was collected from web communities, social network services, and personal blogs on the internet from 1 January 2016 to 31 July 2019. Words frequently linked with psychiatry were collected by natural language processing. Words that may be associated with barriers to receiving psychiatric help were identified and categorized. Because the data from web communities could be classified approximately according to age, the analyses were arranged by age groups. RESULTS A total of 97,730,360 articles were identified for the period in question, among which 6,097,369 texts contained keywords relevant to psychiatry. Among words that were associated with ‘psychiatry,’ approximately 3,000 were selected based on their frequency of occurrence. Words associated with barriers to receiving psychiatric help were categorized into the following four groups: structural discrimination, public prejudice, low accessibility, and adverse drug effects. Structural discrimination was the greatest barrier (34%), followed by public prejudice (27.8%), adverse drug effects (18.6%), and cost/low accessibility (16.1%). Structural discrimination was the greatest barrier in the groups consisting of teenagers (51%), job seekers (64%), and young mothers (43%). However, in the seniors group, the greatest barrier was public prejudice (49%). CONCLUSIONS Structural discrimination is the greatest barrier to receiving psychiatric help in Korea. Difference in the barriers, however, exists among age groups. As well as addressing structural issues for all, more tailored approaches may be required by generations to lower the gap.

The effects of online tactile information source for low-touch products on consumer responses

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the effects of web communities vs company websites in providing tactile information considering different types of product in terms of touch diagnosticity (low- vs. high-touch products). Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the effect of online information sources (i.e. web communities vs. company websites) in providing tactile information on consumer responses, considering the moderation role of product type in terms of touch diagnosticity (low- vs. high-touch products, Study 1), the moderating role of type of information (tactile vs. generic, Study 2a); and the moderating role of need for touch (NFT) (Study 2a and 2b). Findings While previous research converges on the idea that the provision of a written description of tactile properties deriving from the product usage is particularly effective for products for which tactile information is diagnostic and for individuals high in NFT, the results demonstrated that the presence (vs. the absence) of the description of the tactile properties provided by web communities (vs. company websites) matters for those products for which touch is not diagnostic and for individuals low in NFT. Practical implications The findings have particular relevance for emerging brands intending to commercialize their products in the digital environment. These companies should be present in web communities to describe a product’s tactile characteristics, especially if not diagnostic. Originality/value This paper significantly contributes to a better understanding of a little studied area, namely, consumer responses toward haptic compensational strategies providing haptic cues (e.g. written description of tactile information along with pictures of products) aiming at compensating for the absence of touch, underlining the differential influence of online sources of tactile information on consumer responses across different types of products.

Fringe online communities pose new societal risks

Subject Fringe online communities. Significance Since the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in mid-March, fringe web communities are under the spotlight for their role in influencing offline criminality and extremism. Impacts Due to their extensive use of coded language, obscure references and in-jokes, fringe communities are difficult for outsiders to regulate. Criminal offences such as 'doxing', 'raiding', 'swatting' appear to be gaining popularity among active communities. Law enforcement will be most effective in tackling overt criminality but not discussions that fall below the illegality threshold.