“She Can Be a Superhero, but She Needs Her Day Off”: Exploring Discursive Constructions of Motherhood and Depression in Emerging Adult Talk Surrounding Maternal Depression

<p>Despite studies demonstrating the impact of health on the family and the family on members’ health, research exploring this intersection remains scant in both family communication and health communication. This study explores the nexus of health and family by examining constructions of motherhood and depression in emerging adult talk surrounding maternal depression. Using relational dialectics theory as the theoretical lens, the study examined talk collected in 36 one-on-one interviews with emerging adults asked to describe their experiences of having a mother with depression. Participant talk surrounding motherhood voiced two primary discourses of motherhood: (1) <em>the discourse of real mothe</em>r and (2) <em>the discourse of ideal mother</em>. Participant talk surrounding depression included four primary discourses of depression: (1) <em>the discourse of depression as sadness</em>, and (2) <em>the discourse of depression as illness</em>, (3) the <em>biomedical discourse of depression</em>, and (4) <em>the psychosocial discourse of depression</em>. Participant talk surrounding both motherhood and depression was a dialogically rich site of study with a high degree of diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and transformative dialogue. Results demonstrate that meanings of motherhood and depression remain highly contested in emerging adult narratives.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Seurer, Leah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Elizabeth A. Suter, Ph.D.

• Motherhood
• Depression
• Maternal depression
• Communication
• Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication
• Social Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/589

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1588