Infant birth weight and maltreatment of adolescent mothers
Julie A Cederbaum1, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Bryn King
1School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. jcederba@usc.edu
Insights
Maternal maltreatment history in adolescent mothers is linked to a small but significant increase in infant low birth weight. This finding highlights potential intergenerational health disparities and the lasting impact of childhood adversity.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Health
- Child Development
- Public Health
Background:
- Maternal stress and adversity can impact offspring health.
- Adolescent mothers face unique challenges during pregnancy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if maltreatment history in adolescent mothers predicts infant birth weight.
- To determine the independent association between maternal maltreatment and low birth weight.
Main Methods:
- Utilized California vital statistics and child protection data (2007-2009).
- Linked birth records of infants born to mothers aged 12-19 years with child protection data.
- Employed generalized linear models to analyze the relationship, adjusting for confounders.
Main Results:
- Over 153,000 singleton births to adolescent mothers were analyzed.
- Maltreatment history was identified in 13.6% of adolescent mothers.
- Maternal maltreatment was associated with a slight but significant increase in the risk of low birth weight (RR=1.06).
Conclusions:
- Adolescent mothers with a history of maltreatment had infants with a higher risk of low birth weight.
- Maternal maltreatment may contribute to intergenerational health disparities.
- Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms linking maltreatment to birth outcomes.
Background:
Emerging literature suggests that maternal exposure to stress and adversity throughout the life course may have health consequences for offspring.
Purpose:
To examine the maltreatment history of adolescent mothers as an independent predictor of infant birth weight.
Methods:
Birth records for all infants born between 2007 and 2009 to mothers aged 12-19 years were extracted from California's vital statistics files. Maternal information from the birth record was linked to child protection data (1999-2009) to identify young mothers with substantiated maltreatment. Generalized linear models run in 2012 were used to estimate the relationship between maternal maltreatment and infant birth weight, after adjusting for maternal sociodemographic risk factors and health behaviors.
Results:
Among the 153,762 singleton infants born to adolescent mothers, 7.1% (n=10,886) weighed <2500 g at birth. Of all adolescent mothers, 13.6% had been substantiated as victims of maltreatment after age 10 years and before giving birth. After adjusting for known factors predictive of negative birth outcomes, maltreatment history was associated with a slight yet significantly increased risk of low birth weight among infants (risk ratio=1.06, 95% CI=1.01, 1.12).
Conclusions:
Findings from this study suggest that maltreatment history of adolescent mothers is associated with infant low birth weight (<2500 g). Although the increased risk was small and the mechanism unclear, these data indicate that maternal maltreatment not only may have consequences for the victim but also may contribute to intergenerational health disparities.
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