Singing "the baby blues": a content analysis of popular press articles about postpartum affective disturbances.

Publisher: Routledge Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7608076 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0363-0242 (Print) Linking ISSN: 03630242 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Women Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Philadelphia : Routledge
Original Publication: Old Westbury, N. Y., Biological Sciences Program, State Univ. of New York, College at Old Westbury.

Depression, Postpartum*/etiology ; Depression, Postpartum*/pathology ; Depression, Postpartum*/prevention & control ; Depression, Postpartum*/therapy; Health Education/*standards ; Information Services/*standards ; Mass Media/*standards ; Periodicals as Topic/*standards; Bibliometrics ; Female ; Humans ; Mass Media/statistics & numerical data ; Pregnancy ; Women's Health

A content analysis was conducted to evaluate the description of postpartum mood disturbances in magazine articles that appeared during the years 1980-1998. Nineteen articles about postpartum depression and eight articles about "the baby blues" were identified and analyzed for their discussion of etiologies, symptoms, treatments, resources, and demographic assumptions about their readers. The results indicate a strong bias in favor of the medical model of postpartum affective disorders. The articles contained contradictory information about the definition, prevalence, onset, duration, symptoms, and treatment of postpartum disorders, and the authors generally assumed that their readers were heterosexual, married, and middle class. Although the purpose of the articles was to educate readers about an important topic in women's health, they failed to provide accurate information, and thus are not a sufficient resource for new mothers who are seeking to learn about psychosocial aspects of the postpartum period.

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Date Created: 20010406 Date Completed: 20010426 Latest Revision: 20191104

20231215

10.1300/j013v31n02_02

11289685