Date of Award

Spring 6-9-2024

Document Type

Thesis (Undergraduate)

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Jason Houle

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredibly stressful period of American life. While these strains were felt universally, they unevenly impacted disadvantaged and rural populations who faced greater barriers to healthcare access, experienced higher rates of job loss and financial instability, and had less access to mental health resources. Importantly, the pandemic was isolating as social distancing measures limited customary channels of social support. In this thesis, I distinguish between two different types of social support: bridging and bonding. Bonding networks are close-knit and strong, like family and friends, while bridging networks are looser and wide-reaching, like connections with work colleagues and healthcare professionals. While many scholars have investigated how the pandemic impacted mental health and social support networks, few have investigated this relationship for vulnerable populations who may have been isolated and lacked access to technology. I offer an empirical test of the question, “How did the major stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic impact the mental health and social support networks for pregnant and parenting women with substance use conditions in Northern New England?” Using data from the MOms in REcovery (MORE) study, I tackle this question in two studies. In Chapter 2, I ask how access to technology is associated with bridging and bonding social support. I find that access to technology is positively associated with mental health bridging (p<0.05, OR=0.344) and substance use bridging (p<0.05, OR=0.470) social support, but has no association with bonding social support. In Chapter 3, I develop three hypotheses on how social support influences distress: the main effects hypothesis, which suggests that social support directly reduces distress; the stress mediating hypothesis, which posits that social support reduces the perception of stressors, thereby lowering distress; and the stress buffering hypothesis, which proposes that social support mitigates the impact of stressors on distress. I only find support for the main effects hypothesis, suggesting that bridging and bonding directly are negatively associated with distress. I conclude the thesis by suggesting directions for future research and outlining policy implications.

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