Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026
A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
Symptoms of Depression and Preterm Birth Among Black Women
Jerry John Nutor1, Jaime C Slaughter-Acey, Carmen Giurgescu
1Jerry John Nutor is a Student, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. The author can be reached via e-mail at jjnutor@gmail.com Jaime C. Slaughter-Acey is an Assistant Professor, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. Carmen Giurgescu is an Associate Professor, College of Nursing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Dawn P. Misra is a Professor and Associate Chair of Research, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
Objective:
To investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and preterm birth (PTB) while adjusting for social support, both general and from the father of the baby.
Design:
Retrospective study design.
Setting:
Participants of the Life-course Influences of Fetal Environments (LIFE) study were recruited from a suburban hospital in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan.
Participants:
The LIFE data consisted of 1,410 self-identified Black women age 18 to 45 years; 1,207 women were included in this analysis.
Methods:
Women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire administered 24 to 48 hours after birth during their postpartum hospitalization. Data on the newborns and their mothers' health were collected through medical record abstraction. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure symptoms of depression. The CES-D scores ≥23 were considered severe symptoms of depression. Modified Poisson regression models were built using a stepwise approach to assess association between symptoms of depression and PTB.
Results:
Approximately, 17% of women had a PTB and 20% of women in the sample had a CES-D scores ≥23. Women who had CES-D score ≥23 were about 70% more likely to have a PTB compared with women with CES-D scores <23 (PR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.24-2.16) after adjustment for both general social support and father of the baby support.
Conclusion:
Women with CES-D scores ≥23 were almost twice more likely to have PTB compared with women with CES-D scores <23. Referrals for mental healthcare providers might benefit women with symptoms of depression and improve birth outcomes. Nurses should encourage women to seek support beyond the father of the baby.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Birth Control Methods
01:05Long-term Depression
01:03Long-term Depression
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over...
03:12Freezing Point Depression and Boiling Point Elevation
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the vapor pressure of a solution is lowered due to the presence of nonvolatile solutes, it stands to reason that the solution’s boiling point will subsequently be increased. Vapor pressure increases with temperature, and so a solution will require a higher temperature than will pure solvent to achieve any given vapor pressure, including one...
01:28Depressants
Alcohol is a common depressant that can induce a sense of relaxation and reduced inhibition at low doses. Contrary to its occasional...
01:10Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...