IMPACT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT ON MENTAL WELL-BEING IN PREGNANT WOMEN

Abstract

The present study aimed to seek the impact of social support on mental well-being in pregnant women. A sample of 150 pregnant women with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-time pregnancies in the third trimester was selected using purposive sampling technique from different hospitals of Sargodha and Rawalpindi. The age range of the sample was 25 to 30 years with mean age of (M= 26.34 ±SD = 3.53). The Social Support Scale (Malik, 2002) and Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (Stewart-Brown et al., 2009) were used to measure the study variables. Linear Regression Analysis was employed to test the hypothesis of the present study. The correlational analysis reveal that social support and its constructs i.e. informational, tangible, and emotional, esteem positively correlated with mental well-being except for social network support. Linear Regression Analysis revealed that social support predicted mental well-being in pregnant women. Hence, these results highlight the protective role of social support for psychological health of pregnant women. Present study’s limitations and future endeavors suggestions have also been elucidated.