Ailani Navarro, Amanda Clarke, & Dr. Argero Zerr
The purpose of this study is to better understand the variety of perspectives on postpartum depression (PPD). Research demonstrates that there is cross-cultural variability in the recognition, awareness, and knowledge about PPD. For example, one research study found that the two culture groups receive parallel but very dissimilar training in maternal role perceptions, expectations, and confidence (Shand, 1985). A previous study revealed that mental health continues to be unacknowledged in Bangladesh (Williams et al., 2018). This present study examines if attitudes towards postpartum depression differ across people with varying levels of acculturation, including people born in the United States versus people born outside of the United States. There were a total of 106 participants for this study, including 48 women and 50 men aged from 19 to 72 years old (M = 36), including 50.9% White, 9.4% Black or African American, 9.4% American Indian, 9.4% Asian, 17% multi-ethnic, and 3.8% with another ethnicity. Through a series of Qualtrics surveys, participants completed measures of socio-demographic background questions, the PAN Acculturation Scale (Soriano & Hough, 2000), and the Attitudes Toward Postpartum Depression Questionnaire (Poreddi et al., 2020). On average, participants reported a high stigma towards postpartum depression (M = 35.34, SD = 3.25). Specifically, participants reported the most stigma associated with “If my relative had PPD, I would feel ashamed and not tell anyone”, “women who have had PPD cannot make good mothers”, and “women who have had PPD cannot make decisions at all”. In contrast, participants reported the least stigma associated with “We should be patient and have empathy with women who have had PPD”, “PPD is common among women”, and “women with PPD are at high risk of suicide.” Data collection is complete and analyses are underway. Specifically, correlation analyses will examine the relation between acculturation and attitudes toward postpartum depression. This study is significant as it pertains to a better understanding of the views from society regarding women going through postpartum depression.