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Mediators of ethnic-associated differences in infant birth weight

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine whether ethnic differences in low birth weight babies of low-income women may be explained in part by group differences in prenatal health behaviors and psychosocial factors.

Method

A prospective survey of 1,071 low-income, primiparous African-American and Mexican-origin women was conducted in Los Angeles County, California. In face-to-face interviews, data were obtained on substance use, prenatal stress, social support, attitudes toward pregnancy, initiation of prenatal care, and medical risk. Medical chart data were abstracted regarding medical risk factors and labor, delivery, and neonatal data. Interview data were linked with birth outcome data retrieved from maternal medical records. Structural equation modeling was used to test a hypothesized model in which differences in birth weight were expected to be mediated by ethnic differences in substance use, psychosocial factors, and medical risk.

Results

As expected, African-American women delivered babies of earlier gestational age and lower birth weight than did women of Mexican origin. Direct predictors of low birth weight were use of drugs and cigarettes, prenatal stress, and positive attitudes toward pregnancy; together, these factors accounted for the observed ethnic differences in birth weight.

Conclusion

These data contribute to our understanding of the factors that may account for ethnic-associated differences in low birth weight.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Work Program, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Mail Stop 2E8, 22030-4444, Fairfax, VA

    Ruth E. Zambrana PhD

  2. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

    Christine Dunkel-Schetter PhD

  3. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, USA

    Nancy L. Collins PhD

  4. School of Public Health, University of Chicago at Illinois, Illinois, USA

    Susan C. Scrimshaw PhD

Authors
  1. Ruth E. Zambrana PhD
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  2. Christine Dunkel-Schetter PhD
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  3. Nancy L. Collins PhD
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  4. Susan C. Scrimshaw PhD
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Zambrana, R.E., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Collins, N.L. et al. Mediators of ethnic-associated differences in infant birth weight. J Urban Health 76, 102–116 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02344465

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