Putter, Kaila, Dimmock, James, Krause, Amanda, Law, Brian, Griffin, Gemma, Jennings, Lisa, and Keatley, David (2025) Help-seeking for emotional support in the perinatal period: A behaviour sequence analysis. In: [Presented at the Annual Conference of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand]. From: PSANZ 2025: Annual Conference of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand: navigating futures together, 14-19 March 2025, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

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Abstract

Background: The perinatal period is associated with an increased risk of maternal psychological distress. Following childbirth, mothers often seek emotional support from informal sources before accessing formal services. However, there is limited research on the temporal dynamics of maternal help-seeking behaviours. Thus, this exploratory study aims to 1) map the behavioural pathways that perinatal women follow when seeking emotional support and 2) evaluate the outcomes of these interactions.

Methods: Australian mothers (n = 138 to date), 18+ years of age, who are pregnant or who have previously given birth were invited to complete an online questionnaire or phone interview. Participants were prompted to provide a detailed timeline of a memorable episode in their most recent perinatal period where they sought emotional support from at least one person, group, or organisation. Prompts pertained to the source(s) of support, mode of contact, nature of the support(s) provided (e.g., informational, practical) and perceived satisfaction with each interaction.

Results: Data collection and analysis are still underway. Behaviour Sequence Analysis (1) will be used to map pathways between help-seeking behaviours in a flow diagram. Furthermore, a content analysis will be conducted to analyse the outcomes of the help-seeking interactions.

Conclusions: Project findings are anticipated to elucidate perinatal mothers’ patterns of emotional help-seeking and how the provision of supports (mode, nature and perceived satisfaction) influences further help-seeking behaviours. Implications may pertain to the development of perinatal support interventions and guidelines for formal service providers.

Item ID:	85421
Item Type:	Conference Item (Poster)
Keywords:	perinatal, maternal, mother, well-being, behaviour sequence analysis, health and well-being,
Related URLs:	Organisation
Date Deposited:	13 May 2025 00:04
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 30% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200509 Women's and maternal health @ 70%
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