Isolated, overwhelmed and worried: young first-time mothers asking for information and support online

Ian Ruthven, Steven Buchanan, Cara Jardine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
25 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study investigates the emotional content of 174 posts from 162 posters to online forums made by young (age 14-21) first time mothers to understand what emotions are expressed in these posts and how these emotions interact with the types of posts and the indicators of Information Poverty within the posts. Using textual analyses we provide a classification of emotions within posts across three main themes of interaction emotions, response emotions and pre-occupation emotions and show that many requests for information by young first time mothers are motivated by negative emotions. This has implications for how moderators of online news groups respond to online request for help and for understanding how to support vulnerable young parents.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1073-1083
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Volume69
Issue number9
Early online date25 May 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Sep 2018

Keywords

  • information needs
  • information behaviour
  • internet forums
  • mothers
  • young adults
  • emotions

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