TY - JOUR AU - Sobowale, Kunmi AU - Castleman, Jamie Sarah AU - Zhao, Sophia Yingruo PY - 2025 DA - 2025/5/15 TI - Postpartum Depression and Maternal-Infant Bonding Experiences in Social Media Videos: Qualitative Content Analysis JO - JMIR Infodemiology SP - e59125 VL - 5 KW - postpartum depression KW - perinatal depression KW - postpartum anxiety KW - depression KW - TikTok KW - social media KW - video KW - content KW - postpartum KW - anxiety KW - maternal-infant KW - qualitative KW - content analysis KW - bonding KW - experience KW - deductive KW - inductive KW - regression model AB - Background: While the negative effects of postpartum depression on maternal-infant bonding are well-documented, our understanding of how it exerts these effects remains incomplete. A better understanding of how maternal postpartum depression affects bonding can enable clinicians to better identify and support mothers with difficulties bonding with their children. Objective: This study aims to describe the bonding experiences of mothers with postpartum depression through an analysis of short-form videos and user engagement. Methods: We collected publicly available highly-viewed TikTok videos using hashtags associated with postpartum depression and associated engagement metrics in May 2023. After manual screening, we extracted 533 videos related to the mother-infant bond, from which we analyzed a random subset of 159 videos. We abstracted categories from videos using a hybrid deductive and inductive approach. Negative binomial regression models of video likes, views, shares, and comment count were used with content categories and the creator’s numbers of followers as independent variables. Results: Abstraction of content from mother-infant bond videos resulted in six categories: (1) navigating anxiety and anger, (2) creating physical and emotional boundaries, (3) overwhelmed by demands of caregiving, (4) subverted expectations, (5) enduring and finding strength through the challenge of postpartum depression, and (6) can’t remember early life. Subverted expectations and navigating anxiety and anger categories were associated with increased views (rate ratio [RR] 1.72, 95% CI 1.22‐2.43; RR 1.61, 95% CI 1.09‐2.38, respectively), likes (RR 3.61, 95% CI 2.55‐5.11; RR 3.96, 95% CI 2.69‐5.85, respectively), shares (RR 2.95, 95%CI 2.09‐4.18; RR 2.45, 95% CI 1.66‐3.61, respectively), and comments (RR 2.78, 95% CI 1.97‐3.94; RR 1.89, 95% CI 1.28‐2.79, respectively). Sensitivity analysis with creators with fewer followers mostly aligned with these results. Conclusions: This qualitative content analysis of short-form videos identified specific ways postpartum depression impacts the mother-infant bond, highlighting strategies for clinicians to support bonding. Analysis of engagement metrics further demonstrated the types of experiences that most resonate with viewers. Our findings demonstrate the potential of this qualitative method to augment understanding of lived experiences. SN - 2564-1891 UR - https://infodemiology.jmir.org/2025/1/e59125 UR - https://doi.org/10.2196/59125 DO - 10.2196/59125 ID - info:doi/10.2196/59125 ER -