Cognitive Processes in Response to Goal Failure: A Study of Ruminative Thought and its Affective Consequences.

Failure to make progress toward personal goals can lead to negative affective states, such as depression and anxiety. Past research suggests that rumination in response to goal failure may prolong and intensify those acute emotional responses, but that process remains unclear. We examined ruminative thought processes following experimentally manipulated exposure to past failures to attain advancement (promotion) goals and safety (prevention) goals. We predicted that priming of past promotion and prevention goal failures would lead individuals to think repetitively about these failures and that negative affect would be evoked by their recognition of their failures. Further, we predicted that when people experience a sufficient magnitude of negative affect, ruminative thought would intensify and prolong the negative affect associated with that type of goal failure. Results yielded strong support for our predictions regarding promotion goal failure and modest support for those regarding prevention goal failure.

Life satisfaction and preterm birth among urban black women: findings from the Baltimore preterm birth study.

PURPOSE: Preterm birth (PTB) is a major problem in the United States, and black women have greater risk of PTB than white women. The etiology of PTB and the racial disparity in preterm outcomes are poorly understood. Diminished life satisfaction is associated with adult health, but there are no studies of life satisfaction and PTB. In the research reported in this article, the relationship between life satisfaction and PTB among black women was studied. METHODS: Women were enrolled in this prospective study at the time of the first visit to 5 prenatal clinics in Baltimore. Life satisfaction was assessed at the time of the first prenatal visit. Data on PTB were obtained from medical records. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 922 women. Among women who were somewhat or not at all satisfied with their lives, 16% had preterm births, whereas among women who were very satisfied with their lives, 10.7% had preterm births (unadjusted odds ratio = 1.6; 95% CI 1.1-2.4). The adjusted odds ratio was 1.6 (95% CI 1.00-2.5). CONCLUSIONS: Women who reported being somewhat or not at all satisfied with their lives had a greater risk of PTB than women who reported being very satisfied with their lives.

Maternal health prior to pregnancy and preterm birth among urban, low income black women in Baltimore: the Baltimore Preterm Birth Study.

OBJECTIVES: Black women have increased risk of preterm birth compared to white women, and overall black women are in poorer health than white women. Recent recommendations to reduce preterm birth have focused on preconception health care. We explore the associations between indicators of maternal prepregnancy health with preterm birth among a sample of black women. DESIGN: The current study was prospective. SETTING: Enrollment occurred in prenatal clinics in Baltimore. PARTICIPANTS: Women (N=922) aged > or =18 were enrolled in the study. Data on maternal health, behaviors, and pregnancy outcome were abstracted from clinical records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between behavioral and health status variables with preterm birth. RESULTS: In bivariate analysis, alcohol use, drug use and chronic diseases were associated with preterm birth. In the logistic regression analysis, drug use and chronic diseases were associated with preterm birth. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate an association between maternal health and behaviors prior to pregnancy with preterm birth among black women. Providing access to health care prior to pregnancy to address behavioral and health risks may improve pregnancy outcomes among low-income black women.

Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms, nicotine addiction, and smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

Maternal smoking is a key preventable cause of poor pregnancy outcomes, such as low birthweight. In many areas of the United States, including Eastern North Carolina, rates of prenatal smoking are high. Prenatal depressive symptoms are associated with maternal smoking, but there remains much to learn about this relationship, especially among Black women, who have double the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes of White women. In the study reported in this paper, we investigated the relationship between maternal prenatal depressive symptoms with smoking behaviors, beliefs and attitudes, environmental factors which promote smoking and nicotine addiction. Pregnant women were enrolled in the study at the first prenatal visit to the clinics of the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Family Medicine of the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. An interviewer administered a questionnaire to each woman about smoking, smoking-related attitudes, knowledge, beliefs and behaviors, nicotine addiction, and home environmental factors that encourage smoking. The CES-D was used to measure depressive symptoms. We used the cut-point score of 23 or greater to indicate elevated depressive symptoms, which is thought to represent major depressive disorder. The sample consisted of 810 Black women, of whom 18% were smokers. CES-D score was associated with nicotine addiction, not thinking of quitting smoking, and not expecting support from family and friends if they decided to quit. Prenatal depressive symptoms may be a barrier to smoking cessation.