scholarly journals Lipidome Profiles Are Related to Depressive Symptoms and Preterm Birth Among African American Women

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Saadat ◽  
Todd A. Lydic ◽  
Dawn P. Misra ◽  
Rhonda Dailey ◽  
Deborah S. Walker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Preterm Birth ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mass Spectrometry Data ◽  
Orthogonal Projections ◽  
Clear Separation ◽  
American Women

African American women have the highest rate of preterm birth (PTB; <37 completed weeks’ gestation) of any racial and ethnic group in the United States (14.1%). Depressive symptoms (DS) have been linked to PTB risk of African American women. We hypothesized that maternal lipidomic profiles are related to prenatal DS and gestational age at birth among African American women. Women were enrolled at 9–25 weeks’ gestation, completed questionnaires, and provided plasma samples. Lipidomic profiles were determined by “shotgun” Orbitrap high-resolution/accurate mass spectrometry. Data were analyzed using SIMCA P+ software. There was a clear separation in the orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis score plot between women with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores ≥23 and women with CES-D scores ≤22. Similarly, a clear separation was observed in the model between PTB and full-term birth. Corresponding S-plot, loading plot, and variable importance in projection plot/list were used to identify the lipids responsible for the groupings. Higher levels of specific triglyceride (TG) species and lower levels of specific phosphatidylcholines (PCs) PC(37:1), PC(41:6), and PC(39:3) were associated with PTB. PC PC(37:1) levels were also lower among women with CES-D scores ≥23, pointing toward a possible connection between DS and PTB. Although overweight pregnant women showed higher levels of TGs, the PTB model showed specific TGs unique to PTB. Lipidomic profiles in pregnant African American women are related to DS, and our data suggest a role for specific TGs and PCs in PTB.

scholarly journals Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether Serum Concentrations and Depressive Symptomatology in Pregnant African American Women

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3614
Author(s):  
Abby D. Mutic ◽  
Dana Boyd Barr ◽  
Vicki S. Hertzberg ◽  
Patricia A. Brennan ◽  
Anne L. Dunlop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cutoff Score ◽  
American Women

(1) Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were widely produced in the United States until 2004 but remain highly persistent in the environment. The potential for PBDEs to disrupt normal neuroendocrine pathways resulting in depression and other neurological symptoms is largely understudied. This study examined whether PBDE exposure in pregnant women was associated with antenatal depressive symptomatology. (2) Data were collected from 193 African American pregnant women at 8–14 weeks gestation. Serum PBDEs and depressive symptoms were analyzed and a mixture effect was calculated. (3) Urban pregnant African American women in the Southeastern United States had a high risk of depression (27%) compared to the National average. Increased levels of PBDEs were found. BDE-47 and -99 exposures are significantly associated with depressive symptomatology in the pregnant cohort. The weighted body burden estimate of the PBDE mixture was associated with a higher risk of mild to moderate depression using an Edinburgh Depression Scale cutoff score of ≥10 (OR = 2.93; CI 1.18, 7.82). (4) Since antenatal depression may worsen in postpartum, reducing PBDE exposure may have significant clinical implications.

A Multisite Examination of Everyday Discrimination and the Prevalence of Spontaneous Preterm Birth in African American and Latina Women in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (13) ◽  
pp. 1340-1350
Author(s):  
Kimberly E. Fryer ◽  
Anissa I. Vines ◽  
Alison M. Stuebe
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Preterm Birth ◽  
African American Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Latina Women ◽  
Spontaneous Preterm Birth ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
American Women ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy

Abstract Objective African American women have a higher risk of spontaneous preterm birth than White and Latina women. Although Latina women are exposed to similar social determinants of health, they have lower rates of spontaneous preterm birth. One theory for this difference is the maternal stress biological pathway, whereby lifetime stressors, such as racial discrimination, lead to a premature activation of parturition. We investigated the prevalence of self-reported discrimination and its association with the prevalence of spontaneous preterm birth. Study Design Using data from the Community Child Health Research Network Study, a multisite cohort study from 2008 to 2012, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,154 African American women and 578 Latina women. Results Adjusting for multiple risk factors, African American and Latina women who experienced the highest tertile of discrimination had a higher prevalence of preterm birth compared with those who experienced discrimination less than once per year, adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 1.5 (0.7–3.1) and 3.6 (0.9–14.4), respectively. Conclusion In our cohort, we found a statistically significant association only in the medium discrimination group in Latina women, but we did not find a statistically significant association in African American women. Reduction in experienced discrimination may be an important intervention for reducing adverse pregnancy outcomes.

African American Women and Depression: Promoting the Need for Culturally Competent Treatment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernice Kennedy ◽  
Chalice Jenkins ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
African American ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
American Woman ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Diagnostic Process ◽  
American Women

Abstract Depression is gradually increasing in African American women. These women are experiencing role changes and additional life stressors. Depressed African American women may perceive themselves as being devalued by society with fewer support systems to buffer stressful events. Depressive symptoms may develop into clinical depression and a further decrease in the quality of life for the African American woman. The assumption that all women share similar experiences does not allow for differences to emerge regarding the diagnostic process, measuring tools, and successful treatment strategies for various cultures. The authors developed a Multifaceted Model of Depression in African American Women for improving treatment of African American women with depression and future research needs. Cultural background plays a vital role in how the symptoms of mental illnesses are developed, reported, interpreted, and how women are treated. African Americans who subscribed to the Strong Black Women Archetype (SBWA) are naturally strong, resilient, self-contained, and self-sacrificing. This self-reliance prevents them from reaching out for social support. This, in turn, can contribute to depressive symptoms with negative health outcomes. The African American women are more apt to have less access to routine medical care where early diagnosis and interventions can be done, so their mental health problems (e.g., depression, stress, etc.) are often more developed, complicated, and their social supports more depleted when they do access treatment. When African American women do have access to mental health care, they receive poor quality care compared to Whites.

scholarly journals Structural Violence of Schooling: A Genealogy of a Critical Family History of Three Generations of African American Women in a Rural Community in Florida

Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Evelyn Newman Phillips ◽  
Wangari Gichiru
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Family History ◽  
African American Women ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Structural Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
American Women ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
American Children

Through the lens of structural violence, Black feminism and critical family history, this paper explores how societal structures informed by white supremacy shaped the lives of three generations of rural African American women in a family in Florida during the middle to the late twentieth century. Specifically, this study investigates how disparate funding, segregation, desegregation, poverty and post-desegregation policies shaped and limited the achievement trajectories among these women. Further, an oral historical examination of their lives reveals the strategies they employed despite their under-resourced and sometimes alienating schooling. The paper highlights the experiences of the Newman family, descendants of captive Africans in the United States that produced three college-educated daughters and a granddaughter despite structural barriers that threatened their progress. Using oral history interviews, archival resources and first-person accounts, this family’s story reveals a genealogy of educational achievement, barriers and agency despite racial and gendered limitations in a Southern town. The findings imply that their schooling mirrors many of the barriers that other Blacks face. However, this study shows that community investment in African American children, plus teachers that affirm students, and programs such as Upward Bound, help to advance Black students in marginalized communities. Further, these women’s lives suggest that school curriculums need to be anti-racist and public policies that affirm each person regardless of the color of their skin. A simple solution that requires the structural violence of whiteness be eliminated from the schooling spheres.

“I Don’t Know and I Don’t Want to Know”: A Qualitative Examination of Older African American Women’s Knowledge and Experiences With HIV

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 644-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faye Z. Belgrave ◽  
Sarah J. Javier ◽  
Deborah Butler ◽  
Chelsie Dunn ◽  
Joann Richardson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Black Church ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Hiv Knowledge ◽  
Female Population ◽  
American Women ◽  
Heterosexual Women ◽  
Older African American Women

While older African American women (e.g., aged 50 years and older) comprise only 11% of the female population in the United States, they account for 50% of HIV diagnoses among women in this age group. Unique sociocultural factors, including a lack of HIV knowledge and stigma, contribute to HIV risk among older African American women. The goal of this qualitative study was to obtain a nuanced perspective from older African American women about HIV knowledge and experiences with HIV using the framework of intersectionality theory. Focus groups were conducted with 35 African American women who were 50 years and older, nonpartnered, and heterosexual. Women were asked what they knew about HIV and if they thought older women were at risk for HIV. A thematic analysis using NVivo 11 yielded two central themes and three subthemes: HIV knowledge, including experiential knowledge, superficial knowledge, and no knowledge, and stigma around HIV in the Black church. Implications for developing HIV prevention programs and testing messages are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document