Someone you can count on: Examining the mediating effect of social support on economic abuse and depression

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine whether social support mediated the relationship between economic abuse, a form of intimate partner violence, and mental health, specifically depression, among pregnant women. This cross‐sectional study used a sample of 193 pregnant women living in the United States who participated in an online Qualtrics panel survey in January 2021. Hayes Process Macro was used to assess a mediation model. Economic abuse was associated with increased odds of depressive sympto ms and fewer perceived social supports. Social support mediated the relationship between economic abuse and depression. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed. Notably, research focused on economic abuse and efforts to respond to it need to pay particularly close attention to the role that social supports may play in survivor's overall well‐being, as well as the impact that economic abuse may have on survivors' perceptions of social support. This may be particularly true for pregnant women experiencing economic abuse for whom social support‐related interventions have yielded positive health outcomes.