The Personal Social Networks of Resettled Bhutanese Refugees During Pregnancy in the United States: A Social Network Analysis.

Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7600747 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-3610 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00945145 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Community Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Amsterdam : Springer
Original Publication: New York, Human Sciences Press.

Social Networking*; Emigrants and Immigrants/*psychology ; Pregnant Women/*psychology ; Refugees/*psychology; Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Bhutan ; Emigrants and Immigrants/statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Humans ; Ohio/epidemiology ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women/ethnology ; Refugees/statistics & numerical data ; United States ; Vulnerable Populations/psychology

Women comprise 50% of the refugee population, 25% of whom are of reproductive age. Female refugees are at risk for experiencing significant hardships associated with the refugee experience, including after resettlement. For refugee women, the strength of their personal social networks can play an important role in mitigating the stress of resettlement and can be an influential source of support during specific health events, such as pregnancy. A personal social network analysis was conducted among 45 resettled Bhutanese refugee women who had given birth within the past 2 years in the Akron Metropolitan Area of Northeast Ohio. Data were collected using in-depth interviews conducted in Nepali over a 6-month period in 2016. Size, demographic characteristics of ties, frequency of communication, length of relationship, and strength of connection were the social network measures used to describe the personal networks of participants. A qualitative analysis was also conducted to assess what matters were commonly discussed within networks and how supportive participants perceived their networks to be. Overall, participants reported an average of 3 close personal connections during their pregnancy. The networks were comprised primarily of female family members whom the participant knew prior to resettlement in the U.S. Participants reported their networks as "very close" and perceived their connections to be supportive of them during their pregnancies. These results may be used to guide future research, as well as public health programming, that seeks to improve the pregnancy experiences of resettled refugee women.

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Keywords: Community health; Maternal and child health; Refugees; Social network analysis; Social support

Date Created: 20180427 Date Completed: 20190917 Latest Revision: 20190917

20231215

10.1007/s10900-018-0518-9

29696598