Hirani Saima, Sandhu Monique, Bandara Nilanga Aki, Bungay Vicky, Twomey Melissa
School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine, Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, Canada.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2025 Mar 12;15(3):348. doi: 10.3390/bs15030348.
Social support has been considered essential for enhancing mental well-being. However, perceptions of support are crucial for promoting psychological well-being, which is shaped by one's social position across axes of socioeconomic status and gender. This study sought to improve understanding of how pregnant and parenting women living in socioeconomic challenging circumstances perceive social support in order to identify what is working and what needs improvement in mobilizing existing support services. Virtual focus group discussions were conducted with twenty-four women living in British Columbia, Canada. Five themes emerged using thematic analysis: lived realities of motherhood; types of social support women access; barriers they face when accessing support; impact of the pandemic on support services; and women's recommendations to improve support services. Our findings inform a better understanding of women's contextual realities in which they live and the need for inclusive supportive approaches for women and their families.
社会支持被认为是增进心理健康的关键因素。然而，对支持的认知对于促进心理健康至关重要，而这又受到一个人在社会经济地位和性别轴线上的社会地位的影响。本研究旨在加深对生活在社会经济困境中的怀孕和育儿女性如何看待社会支持的理解，以便确定在调动现有支持服务方面哪些措施有效，哪些需要改进。我们与加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的24名女性进行了虚拟焦点小组讨论。通过主题分析得出了五个主题：为人母的生活现实；女性获得的社会支持类型；她们在获得支持时面临的障碍；疫情对支持服务的影响；以及女性对改善支持服务的建议。我们的研究结果有助于更好地理解女性所处的背景现实，以及为女性及其家庭采取包容性支持方法的必要性。
