L. Seguin et al., DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORK F OR THE NEW MOTHER - COMPARISON OF WOMEN OF LOW AND MIDDLE SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS, Canadian journal of public health, 86(6), 1995, pp. 392-396
The social support networks of a group of low socio-economic status (S
.E.S.) mothers (n=87) and a group of higher S.E.S. mothers (n=44) are
described and compared at the 30th week of pregnancy and at the third
week after the birth of their first baby. The evolution of the support
networks for these two groups of mothers during this period is also e
xamined. A modified form of the ASSIS from Barrera has been used to me
asure the social support network. Results show that, during pregnancy,
the social support network of low-S.E.S. mothers is more restricted t
han that of higher S.E.S. mothers. Although the actual number of peopl
e around them after the birth of the baby did not increase, low-S.E.S
mothers said they felt a slight increase in the number of people avail
able to give support in some way. They also reported that conflicts we
re more frequent with some of them. For higher S.E.S. mothers, all soc
ial network variables remained stable from pregnancy through the first
postpartum month.