Tyan Parker Dominguez, PhD, MPH, MSW¹, Christine Dunkel Schetter, PhD², Calvin J. Hobel, MD³, Laura Glynn, PhD⁴, and Curt A. Sandman, PhD⁴. (1) School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Social Work Center, Room 224, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, (213) 740-2765, tyanpark@usc.edu, (2) Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1282A Franz Hall, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, (3) Department of Maternal/Fetal Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8635 West 3rd Street, 160W, Los Angeles, CA 90048, (4) Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Women and Children's Health and Well-Being Project, 333 City Drive, Suite 1200, Orange, CA 92868-3205

Racism is a social stressor that has been linked to infant mortality, low birthweight, and preterm delivery. It has been called a “likely fundamental cause of the nation’s enduring racial/ethnic disparities in health”. The literature, however, focuses overwhelmingly on African-Americans. We conducted a multiethnic comparison of discrimination experiences and their effect on psychosocial functioning during pregnancy. A prospective, repeated measures survey design was used to collect psychosocial, sociodemographic, medical, neuroendocrine, and birth outcome information. Data for 316 pregnant women self-identifying as Hispanic, White, African-American, or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) were included in this analysis. APIs reported the greatest number of racism events and Whites the fewest. Whites were the most distressed by their racism experiences while African-Americans were the least distressed. African-Americans were twice as likely as the other ethnic groups to accept unfair treatment as a fact of life, and were less likely than the other ethnic groups to actively cope with it. Although racism was significantly related to stress and depression in Hispanics, Whites, and APIs, there were no significant associations in African-Americans. This may reflect African-American women’s psychological acclimation to racism given their unique sociopolitical history in this country. Chronic exposure to the kind and degree of racial discrimination the African-American population has endured may also be associated with physiological factors, such as weathering and allostatic load, that may hold important implications for their pregnancies. While a critical issue for African-Americans, this analysis demonstrates that racism holds important psychosocial consequences for other ethnic groups as well.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to

• Discuss the theoretical and empirical evidence linking racism to adverse health outcomes
• Describe ethnic differences in pregnant women’s experiences with racial discrimination and its psychosocial impact during pregnancy
• Identify the physiological mechanisms by which racism may negatively impact pregnancy

Keywords: Stress, Pregnancy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.