Abstract
Purpose
Depression has been shown to be a risk factor of poor pregnancy outcomes among African-American
women. The goal of this study was to examine both risk and protective factors of depressive
symptoms among urban, high-risk African-American, pregnant women.
Methods
Data were drawn from a larger randomized controlled trial, Health Outcomes of Pregnancy
Education that was a part of the National Institutes of Health–DC Initiative to Reduce
Infant Mortality in Minority Populations in the District of Columbia. For purposes
of the present study, a sample of African-American pregnant women (n = 1,044) were recruited from six urban prenatal care clinics. Baseline depressive
symptoms were assessed using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-Depression Scale.
Results
Forty-four percent of women were confirmed as moderately to severely depressed at
baseline. In multivariate linear regression analysis among the total sample, maternal
age, intimate partner violence, illicit drug and alcohol use during pregnancy, and
reproductive history (no live birth/only loss; no live birth/no loss) were associated
with increased depressive symptoms. Being very happy about the pregnancy, having emotional
support from others, and reporting more positive expectancies about the ability to
regulate negative moods were associated with decreased depressive symptoms.
Conclusion
Results highlight the importance of attending to the context of high-risk, African-American,
pregnant women, paying attention to both risk and protective factors of poor psychological
well-being. Implications for future research in this area are discussed.
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Biography
Kristine M. Molina is a doctoral candidate in the joint PhD program in Personality & Social Contexts Psychology and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan.
Biography
Michele Kiely's research focuses on health disparities, infant mortality and women's health, particularly as it pertains to pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 13, 2011
Accepted:
January 25,
2011
Received in revised form:
January 23,
2011
Received:
September 5,
2010
Footnotes
This writing of this article was supported by a Summer Student Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded to the first author. The research was supported by grants 3U18HD030445, 3U18HD030447, 5U18HD31206, 3U18HD03919, 5U18HD036104, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00381823.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
