260108 Relationships between the maternal Stress to Resiliency Ratio (SRR) and unhealthy behaviors during pregnancy: Findings from the 2007 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) study

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 10:35 AM - 10:55 AM

Fathima Wakeel, PhD, MPH , Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Lauren E. Wisk, BS , Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Rebekah Gee, MD, MPH, MSHPR , School of Public Health, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, LA
Shin Margaret Chao, PhD, MPH , Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH , Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
     
OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between the maternal stress to resiliency ratio (SRR) and unhealthy behaviors during pregnancy.

METHODS: We used data from the Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) study, a mailed survey based on a multistage clustered design with telephone follow-up for non-respondents. Analyses were based on the responses of 3,148 women who had a live birth in LA County in 2007. The maternal resiliency index comprised personal resources (self-esteem and mastery) and social resources (partner, social network, and neighborhood support) that women drew upon during pregnancy. The stress index consisted of severe life events and perceived stress during pregnancy. The stress index was divided by the resiliency index to create the raw SRR, which was then transformed into a natural log SRR (range -1.5 to 1.5). Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the associations between the SRR and unhealthy prenatal behaviors, including smoking, alcohol use, inadequate physical activity and unhealthy weight gain.

RESULTS: Women with higher SRR levels were significantly more likely to smoke (AOR=4.5; 95% CI=2.1, 9.6), drink alcohol (AOR=2.3; 95% CI=1.6, 3.3), and have inadequate physical activity (AOR=2.0; 95% CI=1.5, 2.5) during pregnancy. The maternal SRR was not significantly associated with unhealthy weight gain.

CONCLUSIONS: Experiencing greater stress than resiliency during pregnancy is significantly associated with the risk of engaging in certain unhealthy prenatal behaviors, including smoking, alcohol use and inadequate physical activity. Interventions are warranted to reduce/eliminate tobacco and alcohol use and promote physical activity among women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy.

Learning Areas:
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1) Explain the components of the maternal stress to resiliency ratio; 2) Describe the relationships between the maternal stress to resiliency ratio and the risk of engaging in unhealthy prenatal behaviors, including tobacco use, alcohol use, inadequate physical activity and unhealthy weight gain; 3) Discuss programmatic and policy implications of our findings.

Keywords: Risky Behaviors, Stress

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been extensively working with the LAMB study since 2006, and I have presented various findings using the LAMB study data since October 2008. I am also the first author on work regarding the development the maternal stress-to-resiliency ratio (SRR) and its relationships with a number of prenatal, obstetric, and postpartum outcomes.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4130.0: Healthy Women, Healthy Infants: Social Determinants of Health During the Childbearing Years