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Based on significant changes in the frequency of posts over time, the authors identified five stages of development. Through a comparative analysis of discussion topics in the five stages, the authors identified the changes in the extent and range of topics over time. The authors discuss the influence of socio-cultural factors on depressed individuals' health information behavior.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results illustrate an evolutionary pattern of topics in users' discussion in the online depression self-help group, including five distinct stages with a sequence of topic changes. The discussion topics of the group included self-reflection, daily record, peer diagnosis, companionship support and instrumental support. While some prominent topics were discussed frequently in each stage, some topics were short-lived.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>While most prior research has ignored topic changes over time, the study takes an evolutionary perspective of online discussion topics among depressed individuals. The authors provide a nuanced account of the progression of topics through five distinct stages, showing that the community experienced a sequence of changes as it developed. Identifying this evolutionary pattern extends the scope of research on depression therapy in China and offers a deeper understanding of the support that individuals with depression seek, receive and provide online.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/lht-07-2022-0317","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,8]],"date-time":"2023-02-08T10:11:15Z","timestamp":1675851075000},"page":"1347-1365","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Evolution of discussion topics on\u00a0an\u00a0online depression self-help group"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"42","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7986-9977","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Honglei Lia","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9440-7615","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pnina","family":"Fichman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"140","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,9]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"key2024072005471187300_ref056","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"194","DOI":"10.1080\/13691058.2016.1214746","article-title":"Healthcare-seeking behaviour in relation to sexual and reproductive health among Thai-born women in Sweden: a qualitative study","volume":"19","year":"2017","journal-title":"Culture, Health and Sexuality"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2024072005471187300_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1108","DOI":"10.1108\/LHT-09-2020-0244","article-title":"Effects of social robots on depressive symptoms in older adults: a scoping review","volume":"40","year":"2022","journal-title":"Library Hi Tech"},{"key":"key2024072005471187300_ref002","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"912","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30460-8","article-title":"The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence","volume":"395","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"key2024072005471187300_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/LHT-03-2022-0144","article-title":"A comparison study of topic modeling based literature analysis by using full texts and abstracts of scientific articles: a case of COVID-19 research","year":"2022","journal-title":"Library Hi Tech"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2024072005471187300_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e367","DOI":"10.1186\/s12888-016-1073-5","article-title":"What's all the talk about? 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