With the rise of social media, there has been much discussion of its psychological effects. While it seems intuitive that certain aspects of social media have negative effects, there may also be positive effects associated with social media. For example, one study examined the use of social media as a support network for low-income mothers to avoid childhood obesity (Fiks et al., 2017). This article will briefly discuss that study.
Methods
The population examined in this study consisted of 85 low-income “mothers of infants at high risk of obesity” recruited from two obstetric clinics in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These women were then randomized into the Grow2Gether group (the intervention group) or the control group. Women in the control group received text message reminders about recommended primary care visits for their infants, as did women in the intervention group, and they received nothing else.
Meanwhile, women in the intervention group joined a private Facebook group for mothers. They were further divided into four “peer groups” of women based on similar due dates. Each of these groups was managed by a psychologist who was an expert in obesity. The entire intervention consisted of 11 months of online group activities supplemented only by two in-person meetings. This 11-month period started when the mother was 2 months prenatal, and extended until the infant was 9 months old. The online group activities consisted of the following:
- A video-based curriculum based on IOM obesity prevention recommendations consisting of the following (the same information was provided in text posts and PDFs):
- 11 weeks on infant feeding practices
- 7 weeks on sleep
- 12 weeks on positive parenting:
- 4 weeks on activity
- 4 weeks on parenting expectations
- 4 weeks on infant cues and calming
- 8 weeks on maternal well-being
- In addition, the members of this group discussed the curriculum and other aspects of parenting with each other. Mothers could participate as much as they wanted to (with a minimum requirement of one post), but if they had not participated in 2-3 weeks, their peer group’s manager reached out in a private message.
The following measures were used in the study:
- Facebook group participation (based on posts/comments per both individual and peer group)
- Participant-rated acceptability of the study
- Parental practices related to feeding, sleep, activity, and maternal well-being, as assessed through feeding-related behavioral outcomes
- Maternal infant feeding practices, as assessed using 10 relevant items from the Infant Feeding Style Questionnaire (IFSQ)
- Social support, as assessed using the Maternal Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)
- Infant weight and length
- Participant characteristics including demographic characteristics, health literacy, and household food security
Surveys were taken at six time points throughout the study:
- Upon enrollment
- At birth
- Infant age 2 months
- Infant age 4 months
- Infant age 6 months
- Infant age 9 months
Follow-up surveys were also conducted.
Results
The following results were obtained:
- All 43 participants in the intervention group joined a group and posted
- The groups showed a mean of 30 posts per group per week
- More than 99% of posts were related to parenting
- All mothers reported positive comments about the group, and most said that the group was helpful. Most also reported that the group facilitator (the experienced psychologist managing each group) was helpful
- Mothers in the intervention group showed significantly healthier infant feeding behaviors than those in the control group. Interestingly, despite this, the two groups of mothers showed no differences in their beliefs regarding infant feeding
- The two groups did not differ significantly on the amount of sleep their infants got, the types of activity experienced by the infants, perceived social support, or infant weight and length
In other words, the two groups did not differ in many aspects, but the women in the intervention group practiced significantly healthier infant feeding behaviors.
Wrapping up
This study shows an example of how social media can have positive benefits. The private Facebook groups used in this study led to healthier infant feeding behaviors, and the mothers in these groups enjoyed participating in them. It is important to note that these groups were facilitated by experts on infant obesity (which the intervention was aiming to avoid), suggesting that social media can be best used in tandem with traditional psychological practices.
References
Fiks, A.G., Gruver, R.S., Bishop-Gilyard, C.T., Shults, J., Virudachalam, S., Suh, A.W., Gerdes, M., Kalra, G.K., DeRusso, P.A., Lieberman, A., Weng, D., Elovitz, M.A., Berkowitz, R.I., Power, T.J. (2017). A Social Media Peer Group for Mothers To Prevent Obesity From Infancy: The Grow2Gether Randomized Trial. Childhood Obesity, 13(5), 356-368. doi: 10.1089/chi.2017.0042.
