Association of Mothers’ Perception of Neighborhood Quality and Maternal Resilience with Risk of Preterm Birth

Namrata Bhatia, Shin Margaret Chao, Chandra Higgins, Suvas Patel and Catherine M. Crespi
Additional contact information
Namrata Bhatia: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
Shin Margaret Chao: Los Angeles County, Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Chandra Higgins: Los Angeles County, Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Suvas Patel: Los Angeles County, Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Programs, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Catherine M. Crespi: Department of Biostatistics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 94158, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: We examined the associations of mothers’ perception of neighborhood quality and maternal resilience with risk of preterm birth and whether maternal resilience moderated the effect of neighborhood quality perception. We analyzed data from 10,758 women with singleton births who participated in 2010–2012 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby surveys. Multilevel logistic regression models assessed the effects of mothers’ perception of neighborhood quality and maternal resilience on preterm birth (yes/no), controlling for potential confounders and economic hardship index, a city-level measure of neighborhood quality. Interaction terms were assessed for moderation. Mothers’ perception of neighborhood quality and maternal resilience were each uniquely associated with preterm birth, independent of potential confounders ( p -values < 0.05). The risk of preterm birth among mothers who perceived their neighborhood as of poor quality was about 30% greater compared to mothers who perceived their neighborhood as of good quality; the risk was 12% greater among mothers with low resilience compared to those with high resilience. Effects of neighborhood quality were not modified by maternal resilience. The findings suggest that mothers’ perception of neighborhood quality and resilience are associated with the risk of preterm birth. Further research should explore whether initiatives aimed at improving neighborhood quality and women’s self-esteem may improve birth outcomes.

Keywords: neighborhood quality; maternal resilience; preterm births (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/8/9427/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/8/9427/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:8:p:9427-9443:d:54057

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().