Prevalence ratios comparing PTB prevalence among U.S.-born non-Latino Black relative to White women with singleton live births in California, before and after adjustment for chronic worry about racial discrimination and covariates, MIHA 2011–2014.

<p>Prevalence ratios comparing PTB prevalence among U.S.-born non-Latino Black relative to White women with singleton live births in California, before and after adjustment for chronic worry about racial discrimination and covariates, MIHA 2011–2014.</p

Worry about racial discrimination: A missing piece of the puzzle of Black-White disparities in preterm birth?

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>The causes of the large and persistent Black-White disparity in preterm birth (PTB) are unknown. It is biologically plausible that chronic stress across a woman’s life course could be a contributor. Prior research suggests that chronic worry about experiencing racial discrimination could affect PTB through neuroendocrine, vascular, or immune mechanisms involved in both responses to stress and the initiation of labor. This study aimed to examine the role of chronic worry about racial discrimination in Black-White disparities in PTB.</p><p>Methods</p><p>The data source was cross-sectional California statewide-representative surveys of 2,201 Black and 8,122 White, non-Latino, U.S.-born postpartum women with singleton live births during 2011–2014. Chronic worry about racial discrimination (chronic worry) was defined as responses of “very often” or “somewhat often” (vs. “not very often” or “never”) to the question: “Overall during your life until now, how often have you worried that you might be treated or viewed unfairly because of your race or ethnic group?” Prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were calculated from sequential logistic regression models, before and after adjustment for multiple social/demographic, behavioral, and medical factors, to estimate the magnitude of: (a) PTB risks associated with chronic worry among Black women and among White women; and (b) Black-White disparities in PTB, before and after adjustment for chronic worry.</p><p>Results</p><p>Among Black and White women respectively, 36.9 (95% CI 32.9–40.9) % and 5.5 (95% CI 4.5–6.5) % reported chronic worry about racial discrimination; rates were highest among Black women of higher income and education levels. Chronic worry was significantly associated with PTB among Black women before (PR 1.73, 95% CI 1.12–2.67) and after (PR 2.00, 95% CI 1.33–3.01) adjustment for covariates. The unadjusted Black-White disparity in PTB (PR 1.59, 95%CI 1.21–2.09) appeared attenuated and became non-significant after adjustment for chronic worry (PR 1.30, 95% CI 0.93–1.81); it appeared further attenuated after adding the covariates (PR 1.17, 95% CI 0.85–1.63).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Chronic worry about racial discrimination may play an important role in Black-White disparities in PTB and may help explain the puzzling and repeatedly observed greater PTB disparities among more socioeconomically-advantaged women. Although the single measure of experiences of racial discrimination used in this study precluded examination of the role of other experiences of racial discrimination, such as overt incidents, it is likely that our findings reflect an association between one or more experiences of racial discrimination and PTB. Further research should examine a range of experiences of racial discrimination, including not only chronic worry but other psychological and emotional states and both subtle and overt incidents as well. These dramatic results from a large statewide-representative study add to a growing—but not widely known—literature linking racism-related stress with physical health in general, and shed light on the links between racism-related stress and PTB specifically. Without being causally definitive, this study’s findings should stimulate further research and heighten awareness of the potential role of unmeasured social variables, such as diverse experiences of racial discrimination, in racial disparities in health.</p></div

Prevalence ratios for preterm birth associated with chronic worry about racial discrimination among U.S.-born non-Latino Black and White women with singleton live births in California, MIHA 2011–2014.

<p>Prevalence ratios for preterm birth associated with chronic worry about racial discrimination among U.S.-born non-Latino Black and White women with singleton live births in California, MIHA 2011–2014.</p

Prevalence of preterm births overall by whether women reported chronic worry about racial discrimination (chronic worry) among U.S.-born non-Latino Black and White women with singleton live births in California, MIHA 2011–2014.

<p>Prevalence of preterm births overall by whether women reported chronic worry about racial discrimination (chronic worry) among U.S.-born non-Latino Black and White women with singleton live births in California, MIHA 2011–2014.</p

Self-reported characteristics, and prevalence of chronic worry about racial discrimination (chronic worry) by those characteristics, among eligible U.S.-born non-Latino Black and White women with singleton live births in California, MIHA 2011–2014.

<p>Self-reported characteristics, and prevalence of chronic worry about racial discrimination (chronic worry) by those characteristics, among eligible U.S.-born non-Latino Black and White women with singleton live births in California, MIHA 2011–2014.</p

Images of Research 2019

Images Of Research 2019 Winners: Yang Chen – ‘Spiral Up and Down’ - Judges’ Prize Winner Dina El-Hamamsy – ‘Where is my patient Patient?’ - Joint Judges’ Prize Runners-up Tom Matheson – ‘Ginormous Genome’ (1) - Joint Judges’ Prize Runners-up Styliano Spathariotis – ‘Girl with a Metallic Earring’ - Katherine May People’s Choice Winner Soheb Mandhai – ‘The Cosmic Dance of Two Neutron Stars’ - People’s Choice Runner-up Brandon Fathy – ‘Speed, Space, and Time’ - Leicester Institute of Advanced Studies Interdisciplinary Prize Images Of Research 2018 submissions: Abbey Ellis – ‘Carving Out an Understanding’ (1) Abbey Ellis – ‘The Art of the Reproduction’ (2) Ahmed Elimam - Untitled Artur Soczawa-Stronczyk – ‘Do the locomotion with me’ Aseel Alfuhied – ‘Cosmic storm in the heart of darkness’ (1) Aseel Alfuhied – ‘Heart to Heart’ (2) Aseel Alfuhied – ‘Pop Heart’ (3) Beatriz Sanchez-Cano – ‘The Sun, our neural connection’ Cesare Cuzzola – ‘Buddha Day 2019’ Charlotte Barratt – ‘Sound’ (1) Charlotte Barratt – ‘Girl Praying’ (2) Chris Allen – ‘Perceptions and Realities: Building Community Resilience Against Extremism’ (1) Chris Allen – ‘Perceptions and Realities: Building Community Resilience Against Extremism’ (2) David Unwin – ‘Death flight’ Diane Urquhart – ‘Laying ghosts to rest’ Eloisa Rodrigues – ‘Tropical self-portrait’ Fernando Schlindwein – ‘Chaos in the heart’ (1) Fernando Schlindwein – ‘Porcupine’ (2) Graham Frobisher – ‘The 7th Decade Manager’ Hanna McQuail – ‘That colossal wreck, boundless and bare’ Hatice Kayman – ‘Immigrants have opportunities to do their festivals in London’ Hedwig Krawczyk – ‘Underwater Time Machines’ Hipolito Treffinger – ‘Layers’ Jacqueline Taylor – ‘Miriam Haughton at the British Academy’ Jan Vandeburie – ‘Dress to Impress’ Jennifer Beamer – ‘Human-Animal Relationships in Weaving’ John Goodwin – ‘Slow Sociology in South Wigston’ Kinga Kolodziej – ‘In a blink of an eye…’ (1) Kinga Kolodziej – ‘In a blink of an eye…’ (2) Kristina Wright – ‘Janus-Faced Seoul’ Kseniia Bondarenko – ‘Your brain drives me crazy’ (1) Kseniia Bondarenko – ‘Your brain drives me crazy’ (2) Liam Crawford – ‘The heartfelt love story between one nanoparticle and another’ Lisa Huddlestone – ‘Seeing the wood and the trees’ (1) Lisa Huddlestone – ‘Seeing the wood and the trees’ (2) Margarita Avgerinopoulou – ‘A dash of magic’ (1) Margarita Avgerinopoulou – ‘Fantasy at the making’ (2) Martha Papadopoulou – ‘The power of a drop’ (1) Martha Papadopoulou – ‘Every drop counts’! (2) Mayamin Altae - Untitled (or the Tennyson quote) Michael Curtis – ‘The arrival of the shoreline detective’ (1) Michael Curtis – ‘The arrival of the shoreline detective’ (2) Neelam Dave – ‘The damage bacteria can do’ Neil Harris – ‘Colour amongst the chaos’ Nitu Gupta – ‘Far Beyond Insecurities’ Nora Ngii Musyoka – ‘She’s Just the Other Half of Me’ Nukul Charlin – ‘Why are Ladyboy Tolerated in Thai Society?’ Pariyakorn Petkaew – ‘Be silent…Be thinking’ Rachel Belben – ‘Ardeadactylus longicollum’ (1) Rachel Belben – ‘Psittacosaurus’ (2) Roberto Sommariva - Untitled Saima Ahmad – ‘The Command Centre’ (1) Saima Ahmad – ‘Vial do you see it?’ (2) Saima Ahmad – ‘Beyond the Canopy’ (3) Samuel J Perry – ‘Metallic snowflakes’ (1) Samuel J Perry – ‘Metallic snowflakes’ (2) Stephanie Bowry – ‘Storm Clouds over Vaux-le-Vicomte’ Tom Matheson – ‘Ginormous Genome’ (2) Yewande Okuleye – ‘Commemoration, Remembrance and Bodies of Evidence’ Yewande Okuleye, Robert Garner – ‘From pain to pleasure: We no longer just eat our greens, it’s imperative to photograph share and like on Instagram.’ (1) Yewande Okuleye, Robert Garner – ‘A green plaque for animal ethics?’ (2) Yewande Okuleye, Robert Garner – ‘A green plaque for animal ethics?’ (3)</p