Relationship intentions, race, and gender: Student differences in condom use during hookups involving vaginal sex.

Objective: To examine the relationship between race, gender, and pre-hookup relationship intentions and college students' participation in condomless vaginal sex. Participants: 3,315 Black and White college students who participated in the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS). Methods: Secondary data analysis of the OCSLS using Chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results: The model revealed that students who did not want a relationship with their hookup partners and students unsure of their relationship intentions were more likely to use condoms during their last vaginal hookup. Further, White and Female students were less likely to have used condoms during their last vaginal hookup.Conclusions: White and female students, as well as students desiring romantic relationships with hookup partners may be at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to decreased condom use. However, more research is needed to explore the factors driving STI disparities facing Black students despite higher condom use.

Testing the Association Between Traditional and Novel Indicators of County-Level Structural Racism and Birth Outcomes among Black and White Women.

Despite decreases in infants born premature and at low birth weight in the United States (U.S.), racial disparities between Black and White women continue. In response, the purpose of this analysis was to examine associations between both traditional and novel indicators of county-level structural racism and birth outcomes among Black and White women. We merged individual-level data from the California Birth Statistical Master Files 2009-2013 with county-level data from the United States (U.S.) Census American Community Survey. We used hierarchical linear modeling to examine Black-White differences among 531,170 primiparous women across 33 California counties. Traditional (e.g., dissimilarity index) and novel indicators (e.g., Black to White ratio in elected office) were associated with earlier gestational age and lower birth weight among Black and White women. A traditional indicator was more strongly associated with earlier gestational age for Black women than for White women. This was the first study to empirically demonstrate that structural racism, measured by both traditional and novel indicators, is associated with poor health and wellbeing of infants born to Black and White women. However, findings indicate traditional indicators of structural racism, rather than novel indicators, better explain racial disparities in birth outcomes. Results also suggest the need to develop more innovative approaches to: (1) measure structural racism at the county-level and (2) reform public policies to increase integration and access to resources.

Does Neighborhood Risk Explain Racial Disparities in Low Birth Weight among Infants Born to Adolescent Mothers?

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To test associations and interactions between racial identification, neighborhood risk, and low birth weight disparities between infants born to African-American and white adolescent mothers. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Birth cases were geocoded and linked to census tract information from the 2010 US Census and the 2007-2011 American Community Survey. A "neighborhood risk" index was created using principal component analysis, and mothers were grouped into 3 neighborhood risk levels (low, medium, high). Multilevel models with cross-level interactions were used to identify variation in racial differences in low birth weight outcomes across neighborhood risk levels when controlling for maternal demographic characteristics and pregnancy behaviors (smoking, prenatal care use). SETTING: North Carolina, United States. PARTICIPANTS: Singleton infants (n = 7923 cases) born to non-Hispanic African American and white adolescent mothers from the North Carolina State Center of Health Statistics for 2011. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Low birth weight. RESULTS: African American mothers were significantly more likely to have infants of low birth weight than white mothers in this sample (odds ratio = 1.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.53-2.34). Mothers that resided in areas of high neighborhood risk were significantly more likely to have infants of low birth weight than mothers residing in areas of low neighborhood risk (odds ratio = 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-1.93). Even when controlling for confounding factors, racial disparities in low birth weight odds did not significantly vary according to neighborhood risk level. CONCLUSION: Racial disparities can remain in low birth weight odds among infants born to adolescent mothers when controlling for maternal characteristics, pregnancy behaviors, and neighborhood risk.

Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Age: Exploring Intersections in Preterm Birth Disparities among Teen Mothers.

Few studies have examined disparities in adverse birth outcomes and compared contributing socioeconomic factors specifically between African-American and White teen mothers. This study examined intersections between neighborhood socioeconomic status (as defined by census-tract median household income), maternal age, and racial disparities in preterm birth (PTB) outcomes between African-American and White teen mothers in North Carolina. Using a linked dataset with state birth record data and socioeconomic information from the 2010 US Census, disparities in preterm birth outcomes for 16,472 teen mothers were examined through bivariate and multilevel analyses. African-American teens had significantly greater odds of PTB outcomes than White teens (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.21, 1.56). Racial disparities in PTB rates significantly varied by neighborhood income; PTB rates were 2.1 times higher for African-American teens in higher income neighborhoods compared to White teens in similar neighborhoods. Disparities in PTB did not vary significantly between teens younger than age 17 and teens ages 17-19, although the magnitude of racial disparities was larger between younger African-American and White teens. These results justify further investigations using intersectional frameworks to test the effects of racial status, neighborhood socioeconomic factors, and maternal age on birth outcome disparities among infants born to teen mothers.