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Published on: January 12, 2018
Measurement of Racial Microaggressions During Pregnancy and While Receiving Prenatal Care: a Validation Study of the
Sarah C Haight1, Dawn P Misra2, Lisa Miller3
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, 101 Buck Road, Athens, GA, 30606, USA. sarah.haight@uga.edu.
Objective:
The Daily Life Experiences scale measures the frequency of experiences of racial microaggressions (everyday actions or comments expressing prejudice). We assessed the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the DLE-F among Black postpartum women in two contexts: (1) daily life (DLE-F) and (2) while seeking or receiving prenatal care (DLE-PNC-F).
Methods:
Data were from the LIFE-2 cohort of Black women delivering in Detroit, Michigan from 2023 to 2025. Questionnaires were completed during postpartum hospitalization. The 20-item DLE-F assessed past 3-month experiences of microaggressions; the adapted 17-item DLE-PNC-F referenced experiences in prenatal care. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate structure. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's alpha. Convergent validity was tested via correlations with major discrimination, racism-related stress, vigilance, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. Discriminant validity was tested against self-esteem, self-kindness, and collective hope.
Results:
Among 514 postpartum women, both the DLE-F and DLE-PNC-F followed a unidimensional structure with modest fit and strong internal consistency (α = 0.97). The scales were moderately correlated (ρ = 0.51), suggesting they capture related, but distinct domains. The DLE-F showed convergent validity with major discrimination (ρ = 0.53) and racism-related stress (ρ = 0.46). Neither scale was convergent with depressive symptoms or perceived stress. Both scales demonstrated low correlations with self-esteem, self-kindness, and collective hope, supporting discriminant validity.
Conclusions:
We validate the original DLE-F and a newly developed healthcare-specific version, the DLE-PNC-F among postpartum Black women. Results from this study provide evidence for the use of the DLE among Black postpartum women, while also highlighting the need to further develop a modified version with items specifically relevant to experiences during prenatal care.
