Details:

• Alternative Title:
  Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol
• Personal Author:
  Strahm, Anna M. ; Hilmert, Clayton J. ; Campos, Belinda ; Dvorak, Robert ; Schenker, Marc

  Strahm, Anna M. ; Hilmert, Clayton J. ; Campos, Belinda ; Dvorak, Robert ; Schenker, Marc Less -
• Description:
  Objectives:
  
  Research suggests that acculturating to the U.S. is detrimental for immigrants’ health. Consistent with this pattern, higher levels of U.S. acculturation among Latina-American women have been associated with giving birth to lower birth weight babies. The mechanisms that shape this shift in pregnancy health are not clear, but researchers have begun to consider the role of physiological systems that are sensitive to social experience. The present study examined the association of cultural orientation with blood pressure (BP) trajectories over the course of pregnancy.
  
  Method:
  
  In a study of 1,011 U.S. and foreign-born Latina-American women, cultural orientation was assessed and multiple BP measures were collected throughout pregnancy. Post-pregnancy data, including gestational age-adjusted birth weight, were extracted from medical records. Bayesian structural equation models examined average BP and slopes of BP change during pregnancy while accounting for psychosocial stress, support, and pregnancy health-related factors (e.g., maternal age, smoking).
  
  Results:
  
  We found evidence that greater U.S. orientation was associated with higher diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and steeper increases in DBP, which was associated with less fetal growth.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  This is the first evidence that BP may mediate the association between cultural orientation and pregnancy outcomes in Latina-American women. These findings advance our understanding of the biopsychosocial pathways through which acculturation to the U.S. links with health. As scholars seek to better understand the influence of U.S. acculturation on health, focusing on the cardiovascular system and other physiological systems that are sensitive to social experience is warranted and likely to prove valuable.
  
  
• Source:
  Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol.
• Pubmed ID:
  38330371
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11306409
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U50 OH007550/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  [+]

  urn:sha-512:6a9395019000e8ab42512b833de9b3606ab0c5b980b6188722c1f2d88e30c205a3dbb65de6482d66a1de24d0446825c5f632aae6526f84c8bb8c0c58d786d0a0
• File Type:

• Supporting Files:
  No Additional Files