STRESS, SELF-ESTEEM AND RACISM AS FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AND PRETERM DELIVERY IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDBEARING WOMEN.
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 156
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: African-American babies in the United States are dying at twice the rate of white babies. Despite advances in health and technology, this nation ranked twenty-first in worldwide infant mortality rates. The two-fold disparity between African-American and white low birth weight rates was the critical factor in this nation's poor ranking. Despite a myriad of studies, racial differences in low birth weight rates remain unexplained. In an attempt to identify contributing factors, this study investigated three variables. Stress, self-esteem and racism were hypothesized as having relationships with low birth weight and preterm delivery in African-American childbearing woman.

A convenience sample of nulliparous, African-American women (N = 165) were interviewed in the low risk prenatal clinic of a California bay area HMO. The final sample consisted of 136 women, mean age of 24 years, mean years of education of 13.5, median total family monthly income from $1,501 to \$2,000, 35% married and 65% unmarried. Stress was measured by Lazarus and Folkman's Daily Hassles Scale. Self-esteem was assessed by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Racism was assessed by the Perceptions of Racism Scale, an instrument developed by the investigator and piloted on a sample of women (N = 117).

The initial hierarchical multiple regression analyses did not support the relationships of stress, racism and self-esteem with the birth weight and gestational age of the newborn at delivery. The next multiple regression supported a positive relationship of racism with stress (p $<$.01). The next multiple regression supported a negative relationship of self-esteem with stress (p $<$.001). The final hierarchical multiple regression did not support the hypothesized negative relationship of racism to self-esteem. Though the social-political variables of stress, self-esteem and racism did not demonstrate relationships with birth weight or gestational age of the newborn they did demonstrate significant interrelationships. Aggressive research and interventions are crucial to identify factors associated with the two-fold disparity between African-American and white low birth weight, preterm delivery, and the resultant infant mortality.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-07, Section: B, page: 3526.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1991.

School code: 0034.