Depression during the prenatal period may be an important factor underlying the African American/White disparity in low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery (PTD), which is one of the most persistent and least understood public health concerns in the United States (Hoffman and Hatch, 2000; Deal and Holt, 1998; Kvale, Cronk, Glysch, and Aronson 2000; Din-Dzietham and Hertz-Picciotto 1998; Institute of Medicine 1985). Although the overall infant mortality rate has been declining since 1933, in any given year, African American women are twice as likely as White women to give birth to a low birth weight infant and/or deliver preterm (Ventura et al 1999; Singh and Yu 1995). Using the life course perspective as a theoretical framework, this application seeks to identify the relationship of depressive symptoms during the second trimester of pregnancy to the occurrence of LBW and PTD among African American women. Data from the prospective, NICHD funded, Michigan-based Pregnancy Outcomes and Community Health (POUCH) Study will be used to test the moderating influence of depressive symptoms as a function of low childhood socioeconomic status on pregnancy outcomes. Logistic regression analysis will be used to control for the potential ways in which maternal characteristics may affect pregnancy outcomes. This research will shed light on the roles of life course socioeconomic status and depressive symptoms in explaining the Black/White disparity in birth outcomes.
