RESUMO
We argue that changes over time in how ideas of stress are incorporated into understandings of pregnancy and motherhood among Mexican immigrant women living in the United States may affect the documented increase of low birth weight infants born to those women. Stress has consistently been linked to low birth weight, and pregnant Mexican American and Mexican immigrant women differ in levels of perceived social stress. What is lacking is an explanation for these differences. We utilize a subset of 36 ethnographic interviews with pregnant immigrant women from northern Mexico and Mexican Americans living in south Texas to demonstrate how meanings of pregnancy and motherhood increasingly integrate notions of stress the longer immigrant Mexican women live in the United States. We situate our results within anthropological and sociological research on motherhood in the United States and Mexico, anthropological research in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and interdisciplinary research on Hispanic rates of low birth weight.
Assuntos
Peso ao Nascer/fisiologia , Emigrantes e Imigrantes/psicologia , Americanos Mexicanos/psicologia , Gravidez/psicologia , Estresse Psicológico/etnologia , Adulto , Antropologia Médica , Feminino , Humanos , México/etnologia , Texas/epidemiologiaRESUMO
The Latina Paradox, or persistent, unexplained variation in low birth weight rates in recently immigrated Mexican women and the trend toward higher rates in subsequent generations of Mexican American women, is most often attributed to unidentified sociocultural causes. We suggest herein that different disciplinary approaches can be synthesized under the constructs of reproductive habitus and subjective social status to identify influences of sociocultural processes on birth weight. Reproductive habitus are "modes of living the reproductive body, bodily practices, and the creation of new subjects through interactions between people and structures" (Smith-Oka, 2012: 2276). Subjective social status infers comparison of self to others based on community definitions of status or socioeconomic status (Adler 2007). We present results from a prospective study of low-income Mexican immigrant and Mexican American women from south Texas that tested the ability of reproductive habitus and subjective social status to elucidate the Latina Paradox. We hypothesized that reproductive habitus between Mexican immigrant women and Mexican American women inform different subjective social statuses during pregnancy, and different subjective social statuses mediate responses to psychosocial stressors known to correlate with low birth weight. Six hundred thirty-one women were surveyed for psychosocial health, subjective social status, and reproductive histories between 2011 and 2013. Eighty-three women were interviewed between 2012 and 2013 for status during pregnancy, prenatal care practices, and pregnancy narratives and associations. Birth weight was extracted from medical records. Results were mixed. Subjective social status and pregnancy-related anxiety predicted low birth weight in Mexican immigrant but not Mexican American women. Mexican immigrant women had significantly lower subjective social status scores but a distinct reproductive habitus that could explain improved psychosocial health during pregnancy. Results underscore the importance of a biopsychosocial, mixed methods approach that integrates anthropology, psychology, and epidemiology in the effort to understand the complex dynamic between sociocultural processes and birth weight.
Assuntos
Emigrantes e Imigrantes , Recém-Nascido de Baixo Peso , Saúde Mental/etnologia , Americanos Mexicanos , Cuidado Pré-Natal/métodos , Adolescente , Adulto , Emigrantes e Imigrantes/psicologia , Feminino , Humanos , Americanos Mexicanos/psicologia , Pobreza , Gravidez , Resultado da Gravidez , Estudos Prospectivos , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Meio Social , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Texas , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Recent Mexican immigrant women on average have an unexpectedly low incidence of low birth weight (LBW). Birth weights decline and LBW incidence increases in post-immigrant generations. This pilot project tested the hypothesis that subjective social status (SSS) of pregnant women predicts variation in birth weight between Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American women. 300 low-income pregnant Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American women in South Texas were surveyed for SSS, depression, pregnancy-related anxiety, perceived social stress and self-esteem and subsequent birth weight. No significant difference in SSS levels between pregnant Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American women were found. However, SSS better predicted variation in birth weight across both groups than mental and psychosocial health variables. Results suggest distinct relationships among SSS, mental and psychosocial health that could impact birth weight. They underscore the relevance of a multilevel, biopsychosocial analytical framework to studying LBW.
Assuntos
Peso ao Nascer , Emigrantes e Imigrantes/psicologia , Saúde Mental/etnologia , Americanos Mexicanos/psicologia , Meio Social , Adulto , Ansiedade/etnologia , Depressão/etnologia , Feminino , Humanos , Projetos Piloto , Pobreza , Gravidez , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Estresse Psicológico/etnologia , Texas , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine differences in subjective social status, perceived social stress, depressive symptoms, and pregnancy-related anxiety between pregnant Mexican American and Mexican immigrant women. METHODS: Three hundred pregnant Mexican immigrant and Mexican American women in South Texas were surveyed for pregnancy-related anxiety, perceived social stress, depressive symptoms, and subjective social status. RESULTS: Pregnant Mexican immigrant women had higher levels of pregnancy-related anxiety and lower levels of depression and perceived social stress than pregnant Mexican American women. Change in these variables among Mexican immigrant women was relatively linear as time of residence in the United States increased. Mexican immigrant and Mexican American women had significantly different correlations between subjective social status, self-esteem and perceived social stress. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that subjective social status is an important psychosocial variable among pregnant Hispanic women. Results contribute to ongoing efforts to provide culturally responsive prenatal psychosocial support services.