title: Partner support in a cohort of African American families and its influence on pregnancy outcomes and prenatal health behaviors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We examined how two indicators of partner involvement, relationship type and paternal support, influenced the risk of pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight) and health behaviors (prenatal care, drug use, and smoking) among African American women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interview and medical record data were obtained from a study of 713 adult African American women delivering singletons between March 2001 and July 2004. Women were enrolled prenatally if they received care at one of three Johns Hopkins Medical Institution (JHMI) prenatal clinics or post-partum if they delivered at JHMI with late, no or intermittent prenatal care. Relationship type was classified as married, unmarried/cohabitating, or unmarried/non-cohabitating. Partner support was assessed using an 8-item scale and was dichotomized at the median. Differences in partner support by pregnancy outcome and health behaviors were assessed using linear regression. To assess measures of partner support as predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes and health behaviors, Poisson regression was used to generate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no statistically significant differences in pregnancy outcomes or health behaviors by relationship type or when partner support was examined as a continuous or categorical variable. Modeled as a dichotomous variable, partner support was not associated with the risk of preterm birth (PR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.56, 1.56), low birth weight (PR = 0.77, 96% CI = 0.48, 1.26), or health behaviors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Paternal involvement was not associated with pregnancy outcomes or maternal health behaviors. Attention to measurement issues and other factors relevant for African American women are discussed.
authors.forename: Jennifer K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Straughen
authors.forename: Cleopatra H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: Alford A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Division of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA. dmisra@med.wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Dawn P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Misra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology; D011295:Prenatal Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult