If you fit a certain demographic, you don’t have to scroll far in your social media feeds to find some version of “mommy needs her wine” or “mommy juice” narratives.

Those memes and jokes were especially easy to find during the pandemic, says Dr. Emilene Reisdorfer. As the nursing professor and mother of young children was struggling with the stress of school closures and researching public alcohol policies, she came across an editorial from a colleague about the influence of social media on alcohol consumption among mothers. 

“I saw myself in it, I saw my friends and people I knew, and I saw a whole community struggling with alcohol consumption,” she told Research Recast(ed). 

Dr. Reisdorfer started looking at the memes and videos in her feed through a new lens and wondered how they impacted women who were parenting through a pandemic. With colleagues at MacEwan, she set out to do a scoping review of the literature, but they didn’t find much. So, they published a paper documenting and sorting what they did find into seven theme areas. Then, they began a new study to dig deeper by analyzing Facebook and Instagram posts related to alcohol consumption in mom groups. 

“It's incredible to see how much people talk about alcohol in a fun way and how detrimental that can be,” she says. As one of the main influencers of children, a mother’s choices about alcohol can have long-term implications. When a child sees their mother turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism, they might feel more comfortable using it the same way in the future. 

Creating a sense of community and support networks is a better approach to helping mothers who are struggling, says Dr. Reisdorder. That’s where nurses can make a big difference.

“We can provide those educational and socializing opportunities in the community as part of the health promotion initiatives we are so good at.”

In the full episode of Research Recast(ed), Dr. Reisdorfer explains more about her research into alcohol consumption, shares her work with online mindfulness programs and their impact on the mental health of nurses in Brazil and talks about how much she values her students’ interest in research. 

“Students have excellent research questions, and those questions can help change the nursing and the health-care system. Most faculty are interested in having students working with us, so don't be afraid to bring us your questions.”