Prenatal Maternal Stress and Prematurity: A Prospective Study of Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Women

Developed and tested a biopsycho social model of birth weight and gestational age at delivery using structural equation modeling procedures. The model tested the effects of medical risk and prenatal stress on these indicators of prematurity after controlling for whether a woman had ever given birth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health psychology 1992, Vol.11 (1), p.32-40
Main Authors: Lobel, Marci, Dunkel-Schetter, Christine, Scrimshaw, Susan C. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety - psychology
At Risk Populations
Birth Weight
Female
Fetal Growth Retardation - psychology
Gestational Age
Human
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Life Change Events
Mothers
Obstetric Labor, Premature - psychology
Personality Assessment
Pregnancy
Premature Birth
Prenatal Care
Risk Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Socioeconomic Status
Stress
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Summary:Developed and tested a biopsycho social model of birth weight and gestational age at delivery using structural equation modeling procedures. The model tested the effects of medical risk and prenatal stress on these indicators of prematurity after controlling for whether a woman had ever given birth (parity). Subjects were 130 women of low socioeconomic status interviewed throughout pregnancy in conjunction with prenatal care visits to a public clinic. The majority of women were Latino or African-American. Half were interviewed in Spanish. Lower birthweight was predicted by earlier delivery and by prenatal stress. Earlier delivery was predicted by medical risk and by prenatal stress. Parity was not related to time of delivery or to birthweight. Implications of results for the development of biopsychosocial research on pregnancy and on stress are discussed. Key words: stress, birthweight, pregnancy, prematurity, biopsychosocial
ISSN:0278-6133
1930-7810
DOI:10.1037/0278-6133.11.1.32