Treatment Engagement Using Motivational Interviewing for Low-Income, Ethnically Diverse Mothers with Postpartum Depression

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to explore the postpartum depression (PPD) beliefs and experiences of mothers who access local community faith-based organisations providing family services to low-income, predominantly immigrant Latino populations.DesignUsing a qualitative research design, we conducted 18 focus groups with Latina mothers to inquire about their community values and beliefs of PPD. All groups were conducted in Spanish.SettingAn academic research team located in Houston, Texas, USA, partnered with six faith-based organisations in five cities to recruit and host focus groups at the site of the organisation.ParticipantsOne hundred and thirty-three women participated in the focus groups across all sites. Thirty-seven of them (27.8%) had given birth to a child in less than 1 year. Inclusion criteria included mothers 18 years and older and Latino ethnicity.ResultsA six-step process was used to apply thematic analysis to sort data into the themes. All mothers had heard of depression after childbirth, some had experienced it and most remarked that the personal experience and community acceptance of it vary by family. The main findings suggest that mothers take pride in parenting by instilling values to support family and the value of relying on family for emotional support. Findings reveal that many mothers suffer and sacrifice for their children, they feel judged and feel they must hide their emotions. Factors such as birth and postpartum customs from a native country, gender roles and beliefs of what a good mother shape their beliefs and messages about PPD.ConclusionOur findings indicate that programme developers should consider family and community focused education and intervention efforts to help decrease stigma and increase understanding of PPD.

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Methods for Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Assess Weight-related Behaviors in the Home Environment of Children from Low-Income, Racially/Ethnically Diverse and Immigrant Households (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.30525 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Amanda Trofholz ◽

Allan Tate ◽

Mark Janowiec ◽

Angela Fertig ◽

Katie Loth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Native American ◽

Phase I ◽

Home Environment ◽

Low Income ◽

Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽

Ethnically Diverse ◽

Conducting Phase ◽

The Family ◽

Ecological Momentary ◽

Momentary Assessment

BACKGROUND Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is an innovative tool to capture in-the-moment health behaviors as people go about their regular lives. EMA is an ideal tool to measure weight-related behaviors, such as parent feeding practices, stress, and dietary intake, as these occur on a daily basis and vary across time and context. A recent systematic review recommended standardized reporting of EMA design for studies that address weight-related behaviors. OBJECTIVE This manuscript describes in detail the EMA design of the Family Matters study. METHODS Family Matters is an incremental, two-phased, mixed-methods study conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse and immigrant/refugee sample from largely low-income households designed to examine the risk and protective factors for childhood obesity in the home environment. The Family Matters study intentionally recruited White, Black, Hmong, Latino, Native American, and Somali parents with young children. Parents in Phase I of the study completed eight days of EMA on their smart phones, which included 1) signal-contingent surveys (e.g., asking about the parent’s stress at the time of the survey); 2) event-contingent surveys (e.g., descriptions of the meal the child ate); 3) end-of-day surveys (e.g., overall assessment of the child’s day).cribes in detail the EMA design of the Family Matters study. RESULTS A detailed description of EMA strategies, protocols, and methods used in Phase I of the Family Matters study is provided. Compliance with EMA surveys and participant time spent completing EMA surveys is presented, stratified by race/ethnicity. Additionally, lessons learned while conducting Phase I EMA are shared to document how EMA methods were improved and expanded upon for Phase II. CONCLUSIONS Results from this study provide an important next step in identifying best practices for EMA use in assessing weight-related behaviors in the home environment.

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