Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 21, Issue 4, 2019, Pages 837-843

Factors Associated with the Presence of Strong Social Supports in Bhutanese Refugee Women During Pregnancy (Article)

Kingsbury D.M.* , Bhatta M.P. , Castellani B. , Khanal A. , Jefferis E. , Hallam J.S.
  • a College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States, Northeast Ohio Medical University, 4209 State Route 44, P.O. Box 95, Rootstown, OH 44272, United States
  • b College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • c Department of Sociology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • d College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • e College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
  • f College of Public Health, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States

Abstract

Social support may mitigate stress related to the refugee experience, including during resettlement. For refugee women, social support can play an important role during pregnancy. In-depth interviews were conducted within a sample of 45 Bhutanese refugee women. Perceived social support was measured using the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire. Averaged social support scores are reported to account for personal network size. Participants were identified as “low support” and “high support” based on their reported score. The mean social support score reported was 18.9. Participants experiencing a secondary resettlement within the U.S. were 4.52 (95% CI 1.19–17.15) times as likely to report a “high support” network compared to participants who resettled directly from Nepal. Personal social networks are an important source of support for resettled refugee women during pregnancy in the U.S. Refugee women who experience secondary resettlement may perceive stronger support from their personal connections. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Maternal and child health Refugee health Social support Public health

Index Keywords

controlled study female social network social support refugee Nepal clinical article human tissue child health pregnancy Article Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire human experiment human adult public health
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050281686&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-018-0790-x&partnerID=40&md5=5e88bd8f01f39a761b05d667de867e2c
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-018-0790-x
ISSN: 15571912
Original Language: English