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Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report

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An Erratum to this article was published on 11 April 2017

Abstract

The widely publicized violent encounters between police and African American youth have unknown consequences for the emotional and mental health of pregnant African American women. Since studies document the hypervigilance black mothers exert to protect children from violence and racism and findings also reveal the association between racial and gendered stress (which includes parenting stressors) and depressive symptoms during pregnancy, an examination of the effects of stress from anticipated negative experiences between black youth and police on maternal mental health is warranted. Between July and August 2014, 100 mostly low income pregnant African American women who lived in metropolitan Atlanta and were in their first and second trimesters completed the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, selected items from the Jackson, Hogue, Phillips contextualized stress measure, and a demographic form. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted in response to questions that asked: (1) is the anticipation of negative encounters between black youth and police associated with antenatal depressive symptoms and (2) how does the presence of prior children, male or female, contribute to the association? For question 1, the results showed that anticipated negative African American youth-police experiences were significantly associated with antenatal depressive symptoms χ 2 (2, N = 87) = 12.62, p = .002. For question 2, the presence of a preschool-aged male child in the home was significantly associated with antenatal depression (p = .009, odds ratio = 13.23). The observed associations between antenatal depressive symptoms and anticipated negative police-youth encounters have implications for clinical- and community-based interventions responding to the unique psychosocial risks for pregnant African American women.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding from the United Way of Greater Atlanta. Our appreciation and thanks to Kim Addie of the United Way of Greater Atlanta and to Wendolyn Miller, Twanna Nelson, and Sandra Pye of the Clayton County Board of Health. Most importantly, our appreciation and gratitude to the women who permitted the research team to interrogate their lives.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Fleda Mask Jackson

    Present address: Save 100 Babies, Atlanta, GA, 30311, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane, Atlanta, GA, 30314, USA

    Fleda Mask Jackson

  2. Epidemiology Department, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Sherman A. James

  3. Department of Psychology, Morehouse College, 830 Westview Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30314, USA

    Tracy Curry Owens

  4. Clayton County Board of Health, 1117 Battlecreek Road, Jonesboro, GA, 30236, USA

    Alpha F. Bryan

Authors
  1. Fleda Mask Jackson
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  2. Sherman A. James
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  3. Tracy Curry Owens
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  4. Alpha F. Bryan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fleda Mask Jackson.

Additional information

Fleda Mask Jackson was previously a Visiting Scholar in the Psychology Department, Spelman College at the time of the study but now continues as the Founder and Leader of Save 100 Babies.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0153-2.

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Jackson, F.M., James, S.A., Owens, T.C. et al. Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report. J Urban Health 94, 259–265 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0136-3

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