Maternal health behaviors such as substance use and sexual promiscuity can put the health of mothers and their offspring at risk. Sociodemographic factors including low socioeconomic status are also found to correlate with health risks for childbearing women. Hispanic women—particularly those less acculturated—often have sociodemographic risk factors present, but have paradoxically positive pregnancy outcomes. This study examines the acculturation and ethnic differences among Hispanic, White, and Black women in health behaviors and attitudes during childbearing, using data from the National Survey of Family Growth Cycle 6 on 1,062 women who were either currently pregnant or had given birth in the past 12 months. Less acculturated Hispanic women had the lowest rates of substance use and reported the least risky sexual behavior compared to Blacks, Whites, and more acculturated Hispanic women, and had the highest levels of agreement with statements valuing traditional maternal roles compared to the other groups.
Ahern, J., Pickett, K.E., Selvin, S., & Abrams, B. (2003). Preterm birth among African American and White women: A multilevel analysis of socioeconomic characteristics and cigarette smoking. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57, 606-611.
2.
Badr, L.K., Abdallah, B., & Mahmoud, A. (2005). Precursors of preterm birth: Comparison of three ethnic groups in the Middle East and the United States. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 34, 444-452.
3.
Balcazar, H., & Krull, J.L. (1999). Determinants of birth-weight outcomes among Mexican-American women: Examining conflicting results about acculturation. Ethnicity and Disease, 9, 410-422.
4.
Callister, L.C., & Birkhead, A. (2002). Acculturation and perinatal outcomes in Mexican immigrant childbearing women: An integrative review. Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing, 16(3), 22-38.
5.
Collins, J.W., & David, R.J. (2004). Pregnancy outcome of Mexican-American women: The effect of generational residence in the United States. Ethnicity and Disease, 14, 317-321.
6.
Cone-Wesson, B. (2005). Prenatal alcohol and cocaine exposure: Influences on cognition, speech, language, and hearing. Journal of Communication Disorders, 38, 279-302.
7.
Crump, C., Lipsky, S., & Mueller, B.A. (1999). Adverse birth outcomes among Mexican-Americans: Are US-born women at greater risk than Mexico-born women? Ethnicity andHealth, 4, 29-34.
8.
Dole, N., Savitz, D.A., Siega-Riz, A.M., Hertz-Picciotto, I., McMahon, M.J., & Buekens, P. (2004). Psychosocial factors and preterm birth among African American and white women in Central North Carolina. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 1358-1365.
9.
Goldenberg, R.L., Andrews, W.W., Yuan, A.C., MacKay, H.T., & St. Louis, M.E. (1997). Sexually transmitted diseases and adverse outcomes of pregnancy. Clinics in Perinatology , 24, 23-41.
10.
Guendelman, S., & Abrams, B. (1994). Dietary, alcohol, and tobacco intake among Mexican-American women of childbearing age: Results from HANES Data. American Journal of Health Promotion, 8, 363-373.
11.
Haas, J.S., Meneses, V., & McCormick, M.C. (1999). Outcomes and health status of socially disadvantaged women during pregnancy. Journal of Women's Health and Gender-Based Medicine, 8, 547-553.
12.
Jones, M.E., & Bond, M.L. (1999). Predictors of birth outcome among Hispanic immigrant women. Journal ofNursing Care Quality, 14, 56-62.
13.
Kramer, M.S., Goulet, L., Lydon, J., Seguin, L., McNamara, H., Dassa, C., et al. (2001). Socio-economic disparities in preterm birth: Causal pathways and mechanisms. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology , 15(Suppl. 2), 104-123.
14.
Lagana, K. (2003). Come bien, camina, y no se preocupe—eat right, walk, and do not worry: Selective biculturalism during pregnancy in a Mexican American community. Journal of Transcultural Nursing , 14, 117-124.
15.
Lollock, L. (2001). The foreign born population in the United States: March 2000 (Current Population Reports P20-534). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
16.
Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Ventura, S., J., Menacker, F., & Park, M.M. (2002). Births: Final data for 2000. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics .
17.
Misra, D., Cassady, C., Rothert, K., & Poole, V. (1999). Women's reproductive health and their overall well-being. In H. Grason, J. Hutchins, & G. Silver (Eds.), Charting a course for the future of women's and perinatal health: Volume II—Review of key issues (pp. 57-80). Baltimore : Women's and Children's Health Policy Center, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
18.
Moore, M.L., & Zaccaro, D.J. (2000). Cigarette smoking, low birth weight, and preterm births in low-income African American women. Journal of Perinatology , 3, 176-180.
19.
National Center for Health Statistics. (2004 ). Health, United States, 2004 with chartbook on trends in the health of Americans (Library of Congress Catalog No. 76-641496). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
20.
Page, R.L. (2004). Positive pregnancy outcomes in Mexican immigrants: What can we learn?Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 33, 783-790.
21.
Perez-Stable, E., Marin, G., & VanOss Marin, B. (1994). Behavioral Risk Factors: A comparison of Latinos and non-Latino Whites in San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 971-976.
22.
Sherraden, M.S., & Barrera, R.E. (1996). Maternal support and cultural influences among Mexican immigrant mothers. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 77, 298-313.
23.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2000). Healthy people 2010 (2nd ed., DHHS Publication No. 017-01-00547-9). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
