Neighborhood affluence protects against antenatal smoking: evidence from a spatial multiple membership model.

A spatial multiple membership model formalizes the effect of neighborhood affluence on antenatal smoking. The data are geocoded New Jersey birth certificate records linked to United States census tract-level data from 1999 to 2007. Neighborhood affluence shows significant spatial autocorrelation and local clustering. Better model fit is observed when incorporating the spatial clustering of neighborhood affluence into multivariate analyses. Relative to the spatial multiple membership model, the multilevel model that ignores spatial clustering produced downwardly biased standard errors; the effective sample size of the key parameter of interest (neighborhood affluence) is also lower. Residents of communities located in high-high affluence clusters likely have better access to health-promoting institutions that regulate antenatal smoking behaviors.

Strong upward neighborhood mobility and preterm birth: a matched-sibling design approach.

PURPOSE: Much cross-sectional work reports an association between neighborhood disadvantage and adverse birth outcomes. Limitations of this work include that mothers with pre-existing unmeasured morbidity may "select" into, or out of, certain neighborhoods. This selection issue remains a key rival explanation for work concerned with place-based disparities in birth outcomes. We move beyond a cross-sectional approach and exploit a sibling-linked data set in California to test whether upwardly mobile mothers, who move from a very high to a very low disadvantaged neighborhood, exhibit a lower than expected risk of preterm birth (PTB) (i.e., delivery <37 weeks). METHODS: We used a matched-sibling design for 461,061 sibling pairs (i.e., 922,122 births total) to mothers in urban areas in who gave birth in California from 2005 to 2010. We linked mother's address at two time points (i.e., two sibling birth dates) to a census-derived composite indicator of neighborhood disadvantage. Conditional logistic regression methods controlled for mother's risk of PTB in the sibling delivered before the move when estimating the relation between strong upward mobility and preterm of the subsequent birth after the move. RESULTS: As hypothesized, strong upward mobility (relative to no mobility) varies inversely with the odds of PTB of the second sibling (odds ratio [OR] for PTB = 0.83, 95% confidence interval: 0.74, 0.93). CONCLUSIONS: Mothers moving from very high to very low disadvantaged neighborhoods show a reduced odds of PTB. Our findings, if replicated, raise the possibility that improvements in neighborhood quality may improve perinatal health in a relatively short time span.

Neighborhood disadvantage across the transition from adolescence to adulthood and risk of metabolic syndrome.

This study investigates the association between neighborhood disadvantage from adolescence to young adulthood and metabolic syndrome using a life course epidemiology framework. Data from the United States-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 9500) and a structural equation modeling approach were used to test neighborhood disadvantage across adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood in relation to metabolic syndrome. Adolescent neighborhood disadvantage was directly associated with metabolic syndrome in young adulthood. Evidence supporting an indirect association between adolescent neighborhood disadvantage and adult metabolic syndrome was not supported. Efforts to improve cardiometabolic health may benefit from strategies earlier in life.

Racial and Ethnic Patterning of Low Birth Weight, Normal Birth Weight, and Macrosomia.

Both low birthweight (<2500 g; LBW) and macrosomia (>4000 g) are considered adverse birth outcomes and are associated with later poor health conditions, yet the social determinants of macrosomia are understudied. In this study, we explore patterning of LBW, normal birthweight, and macrosomia by race/ethnicity and nativity. We examined data from all live births between 1999 and 2014 in New Jersey with a non-missing, plausible value of birthweight (n = 1,609,516). We compared the risk for LBW and macrosomia among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian mothers, and between the US- and native-born. For Hispanics and Asians, we also examined differences by country of origin. The racial/ethnic patterns for macrosomia mirrored those of LBW, suggesting that the factors underlying LBW shift birthweight distributions. For example, non-Hispanic White mothers had the lowest risk for LBW and the highest risk for macrosomia. Nativity patterns differed by subgroup, however, with unique risks for macrosomia among some origin groups, such as foreign-born Cubans. The racial/ethnic and nativity patterns of macrosomia do not completely mirror those of LBW, suggesting some distinct social risk factors for macrosomia. Our findings raise questions about whether and how racial/ethnic and nativity patterning in both low and excess birthweight is retained in later conditions, such as childhood obesity.

An Examination of Preterm Birth and Residential Social Context among Black Immigrant Women in California, 2007-2010.

The foreign-born black population contributes a considerable amount of heterogeneity to the US black population. In 2005, black immigrants accounted for 20% of the US black population. Compared to native-born black women, black immigrant women are at lower risk for adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth. Some scholars posit that differential exposures to socioeconomic disadvantage and structural racism in the residential context may account for this advantage. However, to date, few studies offer comprehensive examinations of the black immigrant residential social context, particularly in settlement regions beyond predominantly black and historically segregated regions. Further, studies examining the black immigrant residential context typically use a single indicator, which limits discussion of the intersecting domains that simultaneously increase or decrease risk among black immigrants. We addressed these gaps by examining black immigrant neighborhoods in the state of California, where racial residential segregation of the black population is low. We operationalized the residential context of black immigrant women using three distinct attributes: immigrant co-ethnic density, black racial concentration, and neighborhood deprivation. We linked 2007-2010 California birth records of black immigrant women and 2010 census data on tract-level social attributes (N = 6930). OLS regression analyses showed that immigrant co-ethnic density, black racial concentration and neighborhood deprivation were not associated with preterm birth among black immigrants. Our findings indicate that in California, residential social context has little relation to black immigrant preterm birth-a finding that is unique compared to residential settings of other settlement contexts.

Pathways of Health and Human Capital from Adolescence into Young Adulthood.

Social inequalities in health and human capital are core concerns of sociologists, but little research examines the developmental stage when such inequalities are likely to emerge-the transition to adulthood. With new data and innovative statistical methods we conceptually develop, and empirically operationalize, pathways of physical health and human capital accumulation from adolescence into young adulthood, using an autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation model. Results reveal that pathways of health and human capital accumulate at differential rates across the transition to adulthood; evidence of cross-lagged effects lend support for both social causation and health selection hypotheses. We then apply this model to assess the presence of social inequality in metabolic syndrome-the leading risk factor of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. Findings document social stratification of cardiovascular health that is robust to both observed and unobserved social and health selection mechanisms. We speculate that this social stratification will only increase as this cohort ages.

Ethnic enclaves and birth outcomes of immigrants from India in a diverse U.S. state.

Sociological theory suggests that ethnic enclaves promote immigrant health. Existing studies of ethnic enclaves and immigrant birth outcomes have generally focused on blacks and Hispanics, while few have focused on immigrants from India - the second largest immigrant group in the U.S., after Mexicans. Paradoxically, this group generally exhibits worse birth outcomes than non-Hispanic whites, despite their high levels of education. This study investigates associations between residence in South Central Asian ethnic enclaves and both birth outcomes and prenatal behaviors of immigrant mothers from India, using population-level birth record data from the state of New Jersey in the U.S. (1999-2012; n = 64,375). Results indicate that residence in a South Central Asian enclave is associated with less prenatal smoking and earlier prenatal care, but not with birthweight- or gestational-age related outcomes, among immigrant mothers from India. These findings are consistent with theory suggesting that social support, social capital, and social norms transmitted through the social networks present in ethnic enclaves foster health-promoting behaviors. Notably, the prenatal behaviors of non-Hispanic white mothers were not associated to a large degree with living in South Central Asian enclaves, which is also consistent with theory and bolsters our confidence that the observed associations for immigrant mothers from India are not spurious.

Intergenerational pathways linking maternal early life adversity to offspring birthweight.

Adverse birth outcomes can lead to problematic long-term outcomes for children, and are also known to transmit socioeconomic disadvantage across generations, thereby amplifying the importance of identifying their social determinants. However, the full set of factors causing adverse birth outcomes remains unknown. Drawing together theory describing intragenerational (life course) processes linking early life adversity to adult health, and intergenerational transmissions of inequality via birthweight, this study tests a chain of risk that originates within early adolescence, impacts young women's risky health behaviors in late adolescence/early adulthood and risky health behaviors during pregnancy, and ultimately decreases offspring's birthweight. We do so using structural equation models and prospective, population-level data on a racially and socioeconomically diverse cohort of young adults (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health). Results (a) reveal four pathways that fully mediate the association between a young woman's family-of-origin socioeconomic status in adolescence and her offspring's birthweight, and (b) identify a trigger effect-a place in the chain of risk where prevention efforts could be targeted, thereby breaking the chain of risk leading to poor offspring health at birth for vulnerable individuals.

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Neighborhood Affluence: Associations with Breastfeeding Practices in Urban Areas.

Objective To estimate the associations between neighborhood disadvantage and neighborhood affluence with breastfeeding practices at the time of hospital discharge, by race-ethnicity. Methods We geocoded and linked birth certificate data for 111,596 live births in New Jersey in 2006 to census tracts. We constructed indices of neighborhood disadvantage and neighborhood affluence and examined their associations with exclusive (EBF) and any breastfeeding in multilevel models, controlling for individual-level confounders. Results The associations of neighborhood disadvantage and affluence with breastfeeding practices differed by race-ethnicity. The odds of EBF decreased as neighborhood disadvantage increased for all but White women [Asian: Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.82 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69-0.97); Black: AOR 0.77 (95% CI 0.70-0.86); Hispanic: AOR 0.78 (95% CI 0.70-0.86); White: AOR 0.99 (95% CI 0.91-1.08)]. The odds of EBF increased as neighborhood affluence increased for Hispanic [AOR 1.19 (95% CI 1.08-1.31)] and White [AOR 1.12 (95% CI 1.06-1.18)] women only. The odds of any breastfeeding decreased with increasing neighborhood disadvantage only for Hispanic women [AOR 0.85 (95% CI 0.79-0.92)], and increased for White women [AOR 1.16 (95% CI 1.07-1.26)]. The odds of any breastfeeding increased as neighborhood affluence increased for all except Hispanic women [Asian: AOR 1.31 (95% CI 1.13-1.51); Black: AOR 1.19 (95% CI 1.07-1.32); Hispanic: AOR 1.08 (95% CI 0.99-1.18); White: AOR 1.30 (95% CI 1.24-1.38)]. Conclusions Race-ethnic differences in associations between neighborhood disadvantage and affluence and breastfeeding practices at the time of hospital discharge indicate the need for specialized support to improve access to services.

Neighborhood context and birth outcomes: Going beyond neighborhood disadvantage, incorporating affluence.

•Neighborhood affluence protects against the risk of poor birth outcome. •The protective effect of affluence holds for Whites, Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. •Mediation of these pathways by prenatal smoking varies by racial group. •The discourse on neighborhoods and birth outcomes should include affluence.

Theoretical Insights into Preconception Social Conditions and Perinatal Health: The Role of Place and Social Relationships.

Recent efforts to explain the stark social and racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes that have persisted for decades in the U.S. have looked beyond prenatal factors, to explore preconception social conditions that may influence perinatal health via dysregulation of physiologic processes. The extant evidence supporting this link however remains limited, both due to a lack of data and theory. To address the latter, this manuscript generates a structured set of theoretical insights that further develop the link between two preconception social conditions - place and social relationships - and perinatal health. The insights propose the following. PLACE: necessarily encompasses all social contexts to which females are exposed from infancy through young adulthood; encompasses a variety of related exposures that, when possible, should be jointly considered; and may compound the effect of poverty-in childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood-on perinatal health. Social relationships: span relationships from early life through adulthood, and extend to intergenerational associations; often involve (or induce) major changes in the lives of individuals and should be examined with an emphasis on the developmental stage in which the change occurred; and necessarily encompass a lack of social integration, or, social isolation. We also identify potential biological and social-structural mechanisms linking these preconception social conditions to perinatal health, and conclude by identifying promising directions for future research.

Getting Under the Skin: Children's Health Disparities as Embodiment of Social Class.

Social class gradients in children's health and development are ubiquitous across time and geography. The authors develop a conceptual framework relating three actions of class-material allocation, salient group identity, and inter-group conflict-to the reproduction of class-based disparities in child health. A core proposition is that the actions of class stratification create variation in children's mesosystems and microsystems in distinct locations in the ecology of everyday life. Variation in mesosystems (e.g., health care, neighborhoods) and microsystems (e.g., family structure, housing) become manifest in a wide variety of specific experiences and environments that produce the behavioral and biological antecedents to health and disease among children. The framework is explored via a review of theoretical and empirical contributions from multiple disciplines and high-priority areas for future research are highlighted.

Neighborhood and Family Environment of Expectant Mothers May Influence Prenatal Programming of Adult Cancer Risk: Discussion and an Illustrative DNA Methylation Example.

Childhood stressors including physical abuse predict adult cancer risk. Prior research portrays this finding as an indirect mechanism that operates through coping behaviors, including adult smoking, or through increased toxic exposures during childhood. Little is known about potential direct causal mechanisms between early-life stressors and adult cancer. Because prenatal conditions can affect gene expression by altering DNA methylation, with implications for adult health, we hypothesize that maternal stress may program methylation of cancer-linked genes during gametogenesis. To illustrate this hypothesis, we related maternal social resources to methylation at the imprinted MEG3 differentially methylated regulatory region, which has been linked to multiple cancer types. Mothers (n = 489) from a diverse birth cohort (Durham, North Carolina) provided newborns' cord blood and completed a questionnaire. Newborns of currently married mothers showed lower (-0.321 SD, p < .05) methylation compared to newborns of never-married mothers, who did not differ from newborns whose mothers were cohabiting and others (adjusted for demographics). MEG3 DNA methylation levels were also lower when maternal grandmothers co-resided before pregnancy (-0.314 SD, p < .05). A 1-SD increase in prenatal neighborhood disadvantage also predicted higher methylation (-0.137 SD, p < .05). In conclusion, we found that maternal social resources may result in differential methylation of MEG3, which demonstrates a potential partial mechanism priming socially disadvantaged newborns for later risk of some cancers.

Marriage Advantages in Perinatal Health: Evidence of Marriage Selection or Marriage Protection?

Marriage is a social tie associated with health advantages for adults and their children, as lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight are observed among married women. This study tests two competing hypotheses explaining these marriage advantages-marriage protection versus marriage selection-using a sample of recent births to single, cohabiting, and married women from the National Survey of Family Growth, 2006-10. Propensity score matching and fixed effects regression results demonstrate support for marriage selection, as a rich set of early life selection factors account for all of the cohabiting-married disparity and part of the single-married disparity. Subsequent analyses demonstrate prenatal smoking mediates the adjusted single-married disparity in birth weight, lending some support for the marriage protection perspective. Study findings sharpen our understanding of why and how marriage matters for child well-being, and provide insight into preconception and prenatal factors describing intergenerational transmissions of inequality via birth weight.

How Much In-Kind Support Do Low-Income Nonresident Fathers Provide? A Mixed-Method Analysis.

Past child support research has largely focused on cash payments made through the courts (formal support) or given directly to the mother (informal support), almost to the exclusion of a third type: non-cash goods (in-kind support). Drawing on repeated, semistructured interviews with nearly 400 low-income noncustodial fathers, the authors found that in-kind support constitutes about one quarter of total support. Children in receipt of some in-kind support receive, on average, $60 per month worth of goods. Multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that children who are younger and have more hours of visitation, as well as those whose father has a high school education and no current substance abuse problem, receive in-kind support of greater value. Yet children whose fathers lack stable employment, or are Black, receive a greater proportion of their total support in kind. A subsequent qualitative analysis revealed that fathers' logic for providing in-kind support is primarily relational, and not financial.

An integrative model of inter- and intragenerational preconception processes influencing birthweight in the United States.

Social inequalities in birthweight are an important population health concern as low birthweight is one mechanism through which inequalities are reproduced across generations. Yet, we do not understand what causes these social inequalities. This study draws together theoretic and empiric findings from disparate disciplines--sociology, economics, public health, and behavior genetics--to develop a new integrative intra- and intergenerational model of preconception processes influencing birthweight. This model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling and population-level data containing linked mother-daughter pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the Children of the NLSY79 (N = 1,580 mother-daughter pairs). Results reveal that birthweight is shaped by preconception factors dating back to women's early life environment as well as conditions dating back three generations, via integrative intra- and intergenerational processes. These processes reveal specific pathways through which social inequality can transmit from mothers to children via birthweight.

Optimal timing for elective egg freezing.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the optimal age to pursue elective oocyte cryopreservation. DESIGN: A decision-tree model was constructed to determine the success and cost-effectiveness of oocyte preservation versus no action when considered at ages 25-40 years, assuming an attempt at procreation 3, 5, or 7 years after initial decision. SETTING: Not applicable. PATIENT(S): Hypothetical patients 25-40 years old presenting to discuss elective oocyte cryopreservation. INTERVENTION(S): Decision to cryopreserve oocytes from age 25 years to age 40 years versus taking no action. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE(S): Probability of live birth after initial decision whether or not to cryopreserve oocytes. RESULT(S): Oocyte cryopreservation provided the greatest improvement in probability of live birth compared with no action (51.6% vs. 21.9%) when performed at age 37 years. The highest probability of live birth was seen when oocyte cryopreservation was performed at ages <34 years (>74%), although little benefit over no action was seen at ages 25-30 years (2.6%-7.1% increase). Oocyte cryopreservation was most cost-effective at age 37 years, at $28,759 per each additional live birth in the oocyte cryopreservation group. When the probability of marriage was included, oocyte cryopreservation resulted in little improvement in live birth rates. CONCLUSION(S): Oocyte cryopreservation can be of great benefit to specific women and has the highest chance of success when performed at an earlier age. At age 37 years, oocyte cryopreservation has the largest benefit over no action and is most cost-effective.

The educational consequences of teen childbearing.

A huge literature shows that teen mothers face a variety of detriments across the life course, including truncated educational attainment. To what extent is this association causal? The estimated effects of teen motherhood on schooling vary widely, ranging from no discernible difference to 2.6 fewer years among teen mothers. The magnitude of educational consequences is therefore uncertain, despite voluminous policy and prevention efforts that rest on the assumption of a negative and presumably causal effect. This study adjudicates between two potential sources of inconsistency in the literature­methodological differences or cohort differences­by using a single, high-quality data source: namely, The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We replicate analyses across four different statistical strategies: ordinary least squares regression; propensity score matching; and parametric and semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation. Results demonstrate educational consequences of teen childbearing, with estimated effects between 0.7 and 1.9 fewer years of schooling among teen mothers. We select our preferred estimate (0.7), derived from semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation, on the basis of weighing the strengths and limitations of each approach. Based on the range of estimated effects observed in our study, we speculate that variable statistical methods are the likely source of inconsistency in the past. We conclude by discussing implications for future research and policy, and recommend that future studies employ a similar multimethod approach to evaluate findings.

Obesity, school obesity prevalence, and adolescent childbearing among U.S. young women.

In the United States, adolescent obesity reduces young women's odds of forming romantic and sexual partnerships but increases the likelihood of risky sexual behavior when partnerships occur. This led us to conduct a study examining the relationship between adolescent obesity and adolescent childbearing. Our study has two aims. We draw from prior research to develop and test competing hypotheses about the association between adolescent obesity and young women's risk of an adolescent birth. Drawing from risk regulation theory, we also examine whether the association between obesity and young women's risk of an adolescent birth may vary across high schools with different proportions of obese adolescents. Multilevel logistic regression models are used to analyze data from 4242 female students in 102 U.S. high schools who participated in Wave I (1994-1995) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results are the first to show that obesity reduces female adolescents' odds of childbearing, but that this association is not uniform across schools with different proportions of obese students. As the obesity prevalence in a school increases, so do obese young women's odds of childbearing. We conclude that understanding whether and how obesity is associated with young women's odds of having an adolescent birth requires attention to the weight context of high schools.

A Closer Look at the Second Demographic Transition in the U.S.: Evidence of Bidirectionality from a Cohort Perspective (1982-2006).

Second demographic transition (SDT) theory posits that increased individualism and secularization have contributed to low fertility in Europe, but very little work has directly tested the salience of SDT theory to fertility trends in the U.S. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative cohort of women who were followed throughout their reproductive years (NLSY79), this study examines the role of several key indicators of the second demographic transition (secularization, egalitarianism, religious affiliation, and female participation in the labor market) on fertility behavior over time (1982-2006). Analyses employ Poisson estimation, logistic regression, and cross-lagged structural equation models to observe unidirectional and bidirectional relationships over the reproductive life course. Findings lend support to the relevance of SDT theory in the U.S. but also provide evidence of "American bipolarity" which distinguishes the U.S. from the European case. Furthermore, analyses document the reciprocal nature of these relationships over time which has implications for how we understand these associations at the individual-level.