The postpartum period can be a lonely experience leaving some new
mothers feeling isolated and under-supported. The phenomenon of the Internet
has now made social support available within cyberspace. The purpose of this
thesis is to investigate first-time mothers’ engagement in social support through
online and offline communities. This study explored an online group of mothers
from across an entire city, an online group of mothers living within a local
community, and an offline comparison group. A total of 20 interviews were
conducted. First-time mothers appreciated online support, as well as face-to-face
social support. The citywide group provided parenting information and the online
community network was popular for organizing social activities. Implications
include the need for professionals to consider Internet groups as informal support
resources. Additionally, increased access to high-speed Internet and computer
training is required. Directions for future research are also presented.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/1800 |
| Date | 26 October 2009 |
| Creators | Hunting, Vali Sunshine |
| Contributors | Pacini-Ketchabaw, Maria Veronica |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds