Women's responses to postnatal self-report mood and experience measures: does anonymity make a difference?
Stephen Matthey1, Tracey White, Sarah Rice
1Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service-Research Unit, Sydney South West Area Health Service, Liverpool Hospital, Mental Health Centre (L1), Locked Bag 7103, Liverpool BC, NSW 1871, Australia. stephen.matthey@sswahs.nsw.gov.au
Archives of Women'S Mental Health
|April 14, 2010
Summary
Participant anonymity does not affect reporting of difficulty coping in women. This finding challenges mental health professionals' expectations regarding honest responses in perinatal mental health studies.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal mental health
- Psychological research methodology
- Maternal and child health
Background:
- Self-report measures are crucial for assessing perinatal mental health.
- Concerns exist regarding participant honesty influenced by anonymity in sensitive research.
- Mental health professionals hold expectations about anonymity's impact on data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if naming questionnaires affects women's reporting of difficulty coping.
- To compare women's responses under named versus anonymous conditions.
- To survey mental health professionals' predictions about these effects.
Main Methods:
- 211 women at maternal and child health clinics completed mood and motherhood experience measures.
- Participants were assigned to either a "named" or "anonymous" condition.
- 44 perinatal mental health professionals completed an anonymous survey on expected findings.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in reporting "not currently coping" between named and anonymous conditions.
- A small, significant increase in reporting prior "difficulty coping" in the named condition.
- Most professionals incorrectly predicted anonymity would yield more "honest" responses.
Conclusions:
- Anonymity status is unlikely to impact rates of postnatal distress or depression detected by self-report measures.
- Findings contradict prevailing expectations among perinatal mental health professionals.
- The study provides novel insights into response bias in perinatal mental health research.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
00:57Deindividuation
Deindividuation is a form of social influence on an individual’s behavior such that the individual engages in unusual or non-normal behavior while in a group setting. Why? Because in these group settings, the individual no longer sees themselves as an individual anymore, disinhibiting their behavior and personal restraint.
02:05Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about the way you...
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
01:24Strategies of Self-Presentation III: Self-Monitoring
Self-monitoring is a central construct in understanding individual differences in self-presentation strategies across social contexts. It refers to how individuals observe, regulate, and control their expressive behavior and self-presentation following situational cues. Self-monitoring reflects a person's sensitivity to social appropriateness and willingness to adapt behavior to fit varying interpersonal demands.High vs. Low Self-Monitoring IndividualsIndividuals high in self-monitoring are...
01:22Self-Report Tests of Personality
Self-report inventories are objective personality assessments that use multiple-choice items or numbered scales, typically ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). They are often called Likert scales after Rensis Likert. These inventories are widely used due to their ease of administration and cost-effectiveness. One of the most prominent examples is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), initially developed in the 1940s to assess abnormal personality traits.
03:00Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...