Processes underlying Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' BMI

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Contextual stressors like economic hardship and ethnic discrimination pose risks to adolescent mothers' health.
• Understanding the pathways linking these stressors to health outcomes, such as body mass index (BMI), is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how risky behaviors mediate the relationship between contextual stressors and BMI in Mexican-origin adolescent mothers.
• To examine the moderating roles of family and friend support in these associations over time.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers.
• Assessed contextual stressors (economic hardship, ethnic discrimination) and risky behaviors at 3 and 4 years postpartum.
• Measured body mass index (BMI) at 5 years postpartum, using path analyses for moderated mediation.

Main Results:

• Low family support linked economic hardship to risky behaviors, subsequently increasing BMI.
• Low friend support linked ethnic discrimination to risky behaviors, subsequently increasing BMI.
• These associations were not significant with high levels of family or friend support.

Conclusions:

• Risky behaviors may act as a mechanism linking contextual stressors to BMI among adolescent mothers with low social support.
• Interventions should focus on reducing risky behaviors and enhancing family/friend support to address unhealthy weight status.
• Findings highlight the importance of social support in mitigating the adverse health effects of contextual stressors for this population.