Low Optimism and Social Media Use Characteristics in Pregnancy [ID: 1375605]

INTRODUCTION: Dispositional optimism (DO) is a resilience factor associated with improved perinatal somatic and mental health outcomes. Low DO has been associated with lower perceived control over labor. Little is known about the relationship between DO and social media (SM) use characteristics, which might provide context for the differences in perceived labor control. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study of patients from a single tertiary institution. Participants were approached during their postpartum hospitalization and completed a short series of questionnaires including DO (Life-Orientation Test-Revised), perceived labor control (Labour Agentry Scale), and SM use characteristics (frequency, time spent on SM, frequency of posting). Those with low DO (score ≤14) were compared to those with high DO using bivariable analyses. Institutional review board approval was obtained prior to enrollment initiation. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-nine postpartum individuals took part in the study, and 97 (32.4%) had low DO. Those with low DO were younger, had lower education, and were more likely to self-identify as non-White. Overall frequency of SM use did not differ between groups; however, those with low DO were more likely to post information about their pregnancy online ( P <.01). They also had nonsignificantly lower rates of posting pregnancy-related questions (37.1% versus 62.9%, P =.25). Lastly, they had lower perceived control over the labor process (47.1 versus 52.9, P <.01). CONCLUSION: Recently postpartum individuals with low versus high DO reported using SM differently during their pregnancy, which may have contributed to differences in perceived control over labor, an important predictor for postpartum psychopathology.