Understanding the Adoption of Dietary Interventions Within a Chinese Autism Online Community: A Diffusion of Innovations Perspective.

This study looked at how dietary treatments for autism spread through a Chinese online forum. Researchers found these treatments became more popular since 2018, and that influential community members affected how families adopted these approaches. Families reported mixed results from dietary interventions - some helpful, others not. The study highlights concerns about unproven treatments spreading online without strong scientific evidence.

This mixed-methods study analyzed the spread of dietary interventions for autism within a Chinese online community (Baidu Tieba autism forum) using diffusion of innovations theory. Researchers examined popularity trends, adoption processes, opinion leader influence, and post-adoption feedback through descriptive statistics, machine learning, social network analysis, and content analysis. The study found dietary interventions became increasingly popular since 2018, with family caregivers at different adoption stages focusing on different topics. Interactions with opinion leaders significantly influenced both the highest level and stage span of health information adoption.

Family caregiver feedback revealed varied effects of dietary interventions across individuals with autism, highlighting concerns about the diffusion of unproven interventions.

Clinicians should be aware of the growing popularity of dietary interventions spreading through online communities. Given the significant influence of opinion leaders and varied individual responses, professionals should engage with families about evidence-based practices while acknowledging social factors influencing treatment decisions.

Sample size not reported. Study limited to Chinese online community which may not generalize to other populations. Analysis based on forum posts may not capture full treatment experiences. No comparison with evidence-based interventions or control groups.

Dietary interventions are common but controversial treatments for autistic people. This study aims to understand the adoption of dietary interventions based on diffusion of innovations theory in the autism online community from four aspects: popularity, adoption process, the influence of opinion leaders, and post-adoption feedback. Our data was extracted from a Chinese autism community named Baidu Tieba autism forum. We applied a mixed-method including four analytical approaches: descriptive statistics for popularity analysis; machine learning models for automatic data classification and topic detection; social network analysis for exploring the influence of opinion leaders on the adoption phase; content analysis for revealing the family caregiver-reported feedback after adoption.

Dietary interventions have become increasingly popular in the autism online community since 2018. Analysis of the adoption process revealed that family caregivers at different stages of adoption focused on different topics, and the number of interactions with opinion leaders had a significant effect on the highest level (p < .001) and stage span (p < .001) of health information adoption. According to findings from the feedback of family caregivers, the effects of dietary interventions varied from individuals with autism. Our study revealed the diffusion of unproven interventions, which is of great significance in promoting evidence-based practices.