Race-related stress and smoking among pregnant African-American women.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between the psychosocial construct of race-related stress and smoking among pregnant African-American women.


METHODS
Inferential statistical analyses were performed.


METHODS
Participants were recruited primarily at a medical clinic as well as through word-of-mouth consistent with the snowball sampling technique.


METHODS
Seventy pregnant self-identified African-American women (32 smokers and 38 non-smokers) 18 years or older participated in the study.


METHODS
Participants completed self-report measures of the Index of Race-Related Stress and an investigator-developed demographic and smoking questionnaire.


METHODS
Smoking status of each participant was established through self-report.


RESULTS
Significant associations were found between the smoking status of pregnant African-American women and the frequency and perceptions of overall race-related stress (p < 0.03 and 0.02, respectively), the frequency and perceptions of both individual and cultural race-related stress (p < 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.03, respectively). No associations were found between institutional race-related stress and smoking status.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that integrating race-related stress relieving and coping activities into smoking cessation intervention programs for pregnant African-American women may reduce smoking and subsequent smoking-related reproductive health disparities in the population.
Fernander
Anita
A
Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40511, United States.
Moorman
George
G
African American Studies and Research Program, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40536, United States.
Azuoru
Miriam
M
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40508, United States.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001741:Black or African American