Use of Online Forums for Perinatal Mental Illness, Stigma, and Disclosure: An Exploratory Model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Perinatal mental illness is a global health concern; however, many women with the illness do not get the treatment they need to recover. Interventions that reduce the stigma around perinatal mental illness have the potential to enable women to disclose their symptoms to health care providers and consequently access treatment. There are many online forums for perinatal mental illness and thousands of women use them. Preliminary research suggests that online forums may promote help-seeking behavior, potentially because they have a role in challenging stigma. This study draws from these findings and theoretical concepts to present a model of forum use, stigma, and disclosure.

Objective

This study tested a model that measured the mediating role of stigma between onlin

SUBMITTER: Moore D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5339438 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature