The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 3 258 Participants Institutional Review Board approval was obtained prior to recruitment from the university with whom we were affiliated at the time this study was conducted. Participants were recruited from five rural counties in the Appalachian region of the Southeastern United States. Each of the five counties identified was selected based on its classification as rural by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (2022). Purposive criterion sampling was used to recruit participants based on the following selection criteria: biological mothers, at least 18 years old, residing in one of the identified rural counties, and having a child under the age of 2. Recruitment materials in the form of flyers were shared (in person and via email) with various community venues within each of the five counties, such as childcare facilities, medical clinics, and public libraries. The flyers included information on the study, inclusion criteria, and notification of a $100 gift card for compensation (research was supported by a grant from the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation). Members of our research team contacted representative gatekeepers from these recruitment venues and gained permission to share the recruitment flyers with potential participants within these settings. Potential participants interested in the study could voluntarily communicate their interest in participating to the research team; a member of our research team screened each participant based on the study’s inclusion criteria. Our recruitment strategy resulted in a sample size of 16 participants from four counties. We organized focus groups based on the geographic residency of the participants within the four counties. This approach resulted in participants from the same rural county being grouped into the same focus group. The mean composition of participants per focus group was four, with a standard deviation of 2.3 across the four focus groups. Participants ranged from 25 to 34 years of age (M = 30, SD = 2.6). Fifteen participants identified as White/Caucasian and one as multiracial/multiethnic. The total household income reported by participants included $10,000–$24,999 (n = 1), $25,000–$49,999 (n = 5), $50,000–$74,999 (n = 5), $75,000–$99,999 (n = 4), and $100,000–$149,999 (n = 1). The participants had between one and four children (M = 2.25, SD = 0.9), who at the time of the study were between the ages of 4 months to 14 years (M = 4.2, SD = 3.3). Thirteen participants reported being married, two reported being in committed relationships, and one reported being single. Five participants were high school or equivalent graduates. One engaged in some college coursework, three earned associate degrees, six earned bachelor’s degrees, and one earned a master’s degree. Ten participants reported being employed; six reported not being employed outside of the home at the time of the study. Twelve participants reported that they did not receive any postpartum professional counseling, while four participants indicated they had received some form of postpartum professional counseling services. Data Collection and Analysis Data was collected through focus group interviews led by Katherine M. Hermann-Turner. Discussions were held in large meeting spaces familiar to that community (e.g., library, church hall, community center). Participants provided informed consent before engaging in research activities. Participants attended one of four focus groups and engaged in a semi-structured interview designed to last 90 minutes. Focus groups were moderated by Hermann-Turner, who has extensive qualitative interviewing experience, and were conducted in person and audio recorded. At each focus group meeting, institutionally approved childcare specialists offered participants no-cost childcare in a designated area of the meeting space. The semi-structured interview protocol consisted of three primary areas of focus related to understanding participants’ descriptions of their postpartum social and emotional experiences (e.g., What are your feelings about this experience?), processing of postpartum social and emotional
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