Psychology
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Parent mental health challenges in the postpartum and early parenthood have profound implications for parent, child, and family well-being. Little research has focused on postpartum mental health challenges and barriers to help-seeking among queer birthing people, including members of this community who may be particularly vulnerable to mental health difficulties, such as queer cis women partnered with men, trans/nonbinary parents, and queer parents who are young, low-income, and/or of color. This mixed-methods study of queer parents (n = 99), all of whom were assigned female at birth (AFAB) and gave birth to a child within the past several years, explores parents' postpartum mental health difficulties and perceived barriers to seeking help. Using a structural stigma framework, this study found that participants reported high rates of postpartum mental health difficulties (89%) and reported various barriers to seeking support including fears of discrimination and being deemed “unfit” by providers, which might lead to child welfare system involvement. Young parents and low-income parents were particularly fearful of child welfare system contact and potential child removal. Factors that encouraged help-seeking (e.g., desire to be a good parent; partner pressure to seek help) and implications for family practitioners are discussed.
Publication Title
Family Process
Publication Date
2024
ISSN
0014-7370
DOI
10.1111/famp.13032
Keywords
bisexual, child welfare, LGBTQ+ parents, mental health, nonbinary, postpartum, transgender
Repository Citation
Goldberg, Abbie E. and Frost, Reihonna, "“Saying ‘I'm not okay’ is extremely risky”: Postpartum mental health, delayed help-seeking, and fears of the child welfare system among queer parents" (2024). Psychology. 935.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/935
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Publisher source must be acknowledged with citation: Goldberg, A. E., & Frost, R. L. (2024). “Saying ‘I'm not okay’is extremely risky”: Postpartum mental health, delayed help‐seeking, and fears of the child welfare system among queer parents. Family Process.
