Table 1.

Characteristics of the included studies (N=44).

Variable			Value, n (%)a
Place of interaction
	Forum	26 (59)
	Media (Facebook, Instagram, etc)	12 (27)
	Support group	7 (16)
	Blog	1 (2)
	Chat	1 (2)
Access to the place of interaction
	Public access	25 (57)
	Registration	4 (9)
	Partial access (need to register to add comments)	6 (14)
	Not reported	10 (23)
Type of analysis used
	Content analysis	23 (52)
	Thematic analysis	13 (30)
	Discourse analysis	5 (11)
	Constant comparison	2 (5)
	Conversational analysis	2 (5)
	Other	13 (30)
	Not reported	1 (2)
Coding schemes for social support and interaction
	Cutrona and Suhr	5 (11)
	The self-reported coding scheme	3 (7)
	Other	7 (16)
	Not reported	33 (75)

^aSome studies could be included in >1 subgroup.