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Role of Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptomatology Trends During Pregnancy

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Abstract

Our goal was to examine the role of race, ethnicity, and immigration status on prenatal perceived stress and depressive symptomatology trends across pregnancy in a low-income, minority population of pregnant women in urban Los Angeles. Longitudinal data on 442 Hispanic and Black women were analyzed using mixed effects models with a random intercept for participant were employed to evaluate predictors of higher perceived stress levels and probable depression across pregnancy. Compared to U.S. born Hispanic women, Black women had higher perceived stress (β 2.24; 95% CI 0.41, 4.07) and higher odds of probable depression (OR 2.38; 95% CI 0.95, 5.95) while Hispanic immigrants with greater than 20 years of residency in the U.S. had higher odds of probable depression (OR 2.93; 95% CI 1.10, 7.79). Maternal mental health among Hispanic immigrants with longer U.S. residency and Black race warrants increased attention from public health and clinical agencies.

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Funding

This work was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Grant no. P50ES026086) and NIH Office of the Director (Grant no. UH3OD023287).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Sciences, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA

    Claudia M. Toledo-Corral

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2001 N. Soto Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA

    Lu Gao, Thomas Chavez, Rima Habre, Genevieve F. Dunton, Theresa Bastain & Carrie V. Breton

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Brendan Grubbs

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Genevieve F. Dunton

Authors
  1. Claudia M. Toledo-Corral
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  2. Lu Gao
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  3. Thomas Chavez
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  4. Brendan Grubbs
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  5. Rima Habre
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  6. Genevieve F. Dunton
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  7. Theresa Bastain
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  8. Carrie V. Breton
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Correspondence to Carrie V. Breton.

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Toledo-Corral, C.M., Gao, L., Chavez, T. et al. Role of Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptomatology Trends During Pregnancy. J Immigrant Minority Health 24, 561–569 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-021-01235-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-021-01235-2

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