The effects of a social support group on depression, maternal attitudes and behavior in new mothers.
The present study examined the effects of a postpartum Social Support Group intervention on mood state, attitudes and behavior of new mothers. Intervention conditions consisted of an eight session Social Support intervention (n = 44), a no intervention condition (n = 83) and a Group-by-Mail intervention (n = 15). Attitudinal and behavioral assessments were made before and after the interventions at 6 and 20 weeks postpartum, respectively. The primary results indicate that regardless of intervention condition mothers undergo an improvement in mood from 2 weeks to 5 months postpartum. Although the Social Support intervention did not alleviate maternal depression and, in fact, may be detrimental to depressed mothers' self-confidence, it did increase mothers' proximal attention to their infants.
Fleming
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Department of Psychology, Erindale College, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Klein
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Corter
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D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires