Examination of Relationship Between Social Support, Depressive Symptoms and Use of Social Network by Pregnant Women

The mother's having good mental health during pregnancy is important for the mother's and fetus's health. Lack of social support and staying away from social networks can increase the incidence of depression during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between social support, depressive symptoms and use of social network by pregnant women SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the Obstetrics Polyclinics of a training and research hospital, 819 healthy pregnant women whose gestational age was ≥16 weeks were included. To collect the data, the Descriptive Characteristics Form, Social Media Usage Characteristics Form, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used.

In the study, it was determined that 77.5% of the pregnant women use social networking sites. The difference between the pregnant women who used social media and those who did not according to the presence of depression symptoms was found to be significant (p<0.05) In the study, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between pregnant women's MSPSS family, friend, special person subscale total score averages and BDI (p<0.05). İt was determined that the pregnant women who did not show depression symptoms used social networking sites 0.65 times more than those who did (OR:0.65). Those with high special person MSPSS scores are 1.1 times more likely to use social networking sites than others (OR:1.1).

In the study, it was found that pregnant women who use social networking sites receive more social support from their spouses and families than those who do not, and more depressive symptoms are observed in pregnant women who do not use social networking sites. Increased social support may improve maternal mental health during pregnancy and this relationship should be evaluated in longitudinal studies.