Open AccessRacial/Ethnic Disparities in Depressive Symptoms Among Pregnant Women Vary by Income and Neighborhood Poverty
Author(s) -
Catherine Cubbin,
Katherine E. Heck,
Tara Powell,
Kristen Marchi,
Paula Braveman
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
aims public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2327-8994
DOI - 10.3934/publichealth.2015.3.411
Subject(s) - ethnic group , poverty , marital status , demography , logistic regression , feeling , population , medicine , gerontology , psychology , sociology , social psychology , political science , anthropology , law
We examined racial/ethnic disparities in depressive symptoms during pregnancy among a population-based sample of childbearing women in California (N = 24,587). We hypothesized that these racial/ethnic disparities would be eliminated when comparing women with similar incomes and neighborhood poverty environments. Neighborhood poverty trajectory descriptions were linked with survey data measuring age, parity, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, income, and depressive symptoms. We constructed logistic regression models among the overall sample to examine both crude and adjusted racial/ethnic disparities in feeling depressed. Next, stratified adjusted logistic regression models were constructed to examine racial/ethnic disparities in feeling depressed among women of similar income levels living in similar neighborhood poverty environments. We found that racial/ethnic disparities in feeling depressed remained only among women who were not poor themselves and who lived in long-term moderate or low poverty neighborhoods.