COLUMBUS – A study indicates that the new moms who are most likely to post lots of photos of their new babies are exactly the ones who shouldn’t since they report increased symptoms of depression when they fail to receive the validation or praise they went looking for.
According to a survey of highly educated, mostly married, Midwestern women who had full-time jobs indicated that new moms who posted often on Facebook to show off their new baby often tended to be either perfectionists or those seeking validation, said Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, lead author of the study and professor of human sciences at OSU.
“If a mother is posting on Facebook to get affirmation that she’s doing a good job and doesn’t get all the ‘likes’ and positive comments she expects, that could be a problem. She may end up feeling worse,” Schoppe-Sullivan said.
Schoppe-Sullivan’s research, which used data from her long-term study of how dual-earner couples adjust to becoming first-time parents, found that those who felt societal pressure to be perfect moms and who identified most strongly with their motherhood role posted more frequently than others.
The same mothers also reported stronger emotional reactions to comments on the photos they posted, such as feeling bad if they didn’t get enough positive comments, she said.
The study found that mothers who posted more on Facebook tended to report more depressive symptoms after nine months of parenthood. Schoppe-Sullivan noted that an increase in symptoms doesn’t necessarily indicate depression.
“They felt validated when they got a lot of likes and comments, but they were also more likely to feel bad and disappointed when the reaction wasn’t what they had hoped,” said Jill Yavorsky, co-author of the study and a doctoral student in sociology at OSU.
“The easiest way for women in our society to get validation is still through being a mother because other roles that women take on are still not as valued,” Yavorsky said.
Of the 127 mothers from Ohio who participated in this study, Schoppe-Sullivan says 98 percent reported uploading photos of their infant.
The study appears online this week in the journal Sex Roles.