Stress, self-esteem, and racism: relationships with low birth weight and preterm delivery in African American women.
Low birth weight (LBW) is two times greater for African Americans than for Whites. Stress, self-esteem, and racism were proposed as correlates for LBW. A sample of African American women (N = 165) were interviewed in a prenatal HMO. Multiple regressions analyses run on the final sample (N = 147) demonstrated no significant relationship between stress, self-esteem, and racism with newborn birth weight or gestational age. A significant positive relationship, however, between racism and stress (p < .001) and a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and stress (p < .001) were demonstrated. Continued research on variables such as stress, self-esteem, and racism is necessary to understand their relationships to LBW in the African American childbearing family.
Murrell
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Department of Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000208:ethnology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011287:Prejudice; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires