Increasing social support for women with postpartum depression through attribution theory guided vignettes and video messages: The understudied role of effort

Abstract

Guided by Weiner's attribution theory of help-giving, two experimental studies assessed whether emphasizing the temporary nature of postpartum depression (PPD; i.e., stability), the uncontrollable development of the ailment (i.e., onset controllability), and whether it appears someone is making an effort to overcome PPD—a form of offset controllability—would result in changes in anger, sympathy, and social support outcome expectations (SSOEs), and indirectly influence willingness to provide support. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions focused on the stability and controllability (onset and offset) of PPD, resulting in a 2 × 2 × 2 design. Study 1 used written vignettes and compared each attribution construct to its polar opposite (e.g., temporary vs. permanent). Many of the Study 1 hypotheses were supported, but the interactions offered minimal explanatory value. Study 2 used video messages that either did or did not explicitly mention each attribution construct. Study 2 results indicated that a message focused on the temporary nature of PPD increased SSOEs and was indirectly associated with willingness to provide support. A message focused on effort increased sympathy and by extension willingness to provide support. The onset controllability message had no significant effects in Study 2. The interaction of the different attribution constructs were not significant. Results indicate that offset controllability, operationalized as effort, the extent to which a situation is temporary, and the influence of SSOEs, might be underutilized in both theoretical and applied research.