Effect of social media-based psychodrama therapy on reduction in symptoms of postpartum depression in women with first birth experience: The contributing role of spousal support

• Published in: Health care for women international Vol. 45; no. 8; p. 892
• Main Authors: Obichili, Mercy Ifeyinwa, Ogwo, Comfort Ajuma, Udeh, Kenneth, Obiechina, Chika Kate, Kakwagh, Venatus Vaatyough, Eze, Charles Chukwudi, Gever, Verlumun Celestine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 02.08.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Depression, Postpartum - psychology; Depression, Postpartum - therapy; Female; Humans; Mothers - psychology; Parturition - psychology; Postpartum Period - psychology; Pregnancy; Social Media; Social Support; Spouses - psychology
• ISSN: 1096-4665
• DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2023.2243240

We aimed to examine the impact of social media-based psychodrama therapy in reducing postpartum depression symptoms in first-time mothers. We conducted this study using a quasi-experiment with the use of pretest, posttest and follow-up evaluation after six months. We found a significant main effect of social media-based psychodrama therapy in reducing symptoms of postpartum depression in women (1,503)= 713.413,  = 0.001, eta squared .441. We also found that this relationship is moderated by spousal support like physical, emotional and social support. Additionally, our results showed that first-time mothers experience PPD symptoms after childbirth more than experienced mothers. We equally found that psychodrama contributed in reducing symptoms of PPD in experienced mothers more than in first-time mothers. The implication of our result is that first-time mothers require more attention to assist them to recover from PPD symptoms than their experienced counterparts.