Peer Groups, Social Support, and Well-being: Evidence from a Large Online Maternity Community

Abstract

We study how social support among pregnant women in peer groups relates to their well-being in a large online community. We find that while having more peer groups reduces observable social support in terms of information exchange, it does not undermine perceived social support. Higher perceived social support from online peer groups is positively associated with both prenatal and postnatal mental health of mothers as well as newborns’ birth weight.