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Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Intentionally or Ambivalently Risking a Short Interpregnancy Interval: Reproductive-Readiness Factors in Women’s Postpartum Non-Use of Contraception
A focus of research on short interpregnancy intervals (IPI) has been on young disadvantaged women whose births are likely to be unintended. Later initiation of family formation in the United States and other high-income countries points to the need to also consider a woman’s attributes indicative of readiness for purposefully accelerated family formation achieved through short IPIs. We test for whether factors indicating “reproductive readiness”—including being married, being older, and having just had a first birth or a birth later than desired—predict a woman’s non-use of contraception in the postpartum months. We also test for whether this contraceptive non-use results explicitly from wanting to become pregnant again. The data come from the 2012–2015 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, representing women who recently gave birth in any of 35 U.S. states and New York City ( N  = 120,111). We find that these reproductive-readiness factors are highly predictive of women’s postpartum non-use of contraception because of a stated desire to become pregnant and are moderately predictive of contraceptive non-use without an explicit pregnancy intention. We conclude that planning for, or ambivalently risking, a short IPI is a frequent family-formation strategy for women whose family formation has been delayed. This is likely to become increasingly common as family formation in the United States is initiated later in the reproductive life course.
Located in MPRC People / Monica Caudillo, Ph.D. / Monica Caudillo Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Cumulative Psychosocial Stress and Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Older Women: Data by Race/Ethnicity
  BACKGROUND: Research implicates acute and chronic stressors in racial/ethnic health disparities, but the joint impact of multiple stressors on racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular health is unknown. METHODS: In 25 062 women (24 053 white; 256 Hispanic; 440 black; 313 Asian) articipating in the Women's Health Study follow-up cohort, we examined the relationship between cumulative psychosocial stress (CPS) and ideal cardiovascular health (ICH), as defined by the American Heart Association's 2020 strategic Impact Goals. This health metric includes smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and glucose, with higher levels indicating more ICH and less cardiovascular risk (score range, 0-7). We created a CPS score that summarized acute stressors (eg, negative life events) and chronic stressors (eg, work, work-family spillover, financial, discrimination, relationship, and neighborhood) and traumatic life event stress reported on a stress questionnaire administered in 2012 to 2013 (score range, 16-385, with higher scores indicating higher levels of stress). RESULTS: White women had the lowest mean CPS scores (white: 161.7±50.4; Hispanic: 171.2±51.7; black: 172.5±54.9; Asian: 170.8±50.6; P overall <0.01). Mean CPS scores remained higher in Hispanic, black, and Asian women than in white women after adjustment for age, socioeconomic status (income and education), and psychological status (depression and anxiety) ( P<0.01 for each). Mean ICH scores varied by race/ethnicity ( P<0.01) and were significantly lower in black women and higher in Asian women compared with white women (β-coefficient [95% CI]: Hispanics, -0.02 [-0.13 to -0.09]; blacks, -0.34 [-0.43 to -0.25]; Asians, 0.34 [0.24 to 0.45]); control for socioeconomic status and CPS did not change these results. Interactions between CPS and race/ethnicity in ICH models were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Both CPS and ICH varied by race/ethnicity. ICH remained worse in blacks and better in Asians compared with whites, despite taking into account socioeconomic factors and CPS.
Located in Retired Persons / Natalie Slopen, Sc.D. / Natalie Slopen Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Financial strain and ideal cardiovascular health in middle-aged and older women: Data from the Women's health study
Financial strain is a prevalent form of psychosocial stress in the United States; however, information about the relationship between financial strain and cardiovascular health remains sparse, particularly in older women. The cross-sectional association between financial strain and ideal cardiovascular health were examined in the Women's Health Study follow-up cohort (N = 22,048; mean age = 72± 6.0 years).Six self-reported measures of financial strain were summed together to create a financial strain index and categorized into 4 groups: No financial strain, 1 stressor, 2 stressors, and 3+ stressors. Ideal cardiovascular health was based on the American Heart Association strategic 2020 goals metric, including tobacco use, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol and diabetes mellitus. Cardiovascular health was examined as continuous and a categorical outcome (ideal, intermediate, and poor). Statistical analyses adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, education and income. At least one indicator of financial strain was reported by 16% of participants. Number of financial stressors was associated with lower ideal cardiovascular health, and this association persisted after adjustment for potential confounders (1 financial stressor (FS): B = −0.10, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) = −0.13, −0.07; 2 FS: B = −0.20, 95% CI = −0.26, −0.15; 3+ FS: B = −0.44, 95% CI = −0.50, −0.38). Financial strain was associated with lower ideal cardiovascular health in middle aged and older female health professional women. The results of this study have implications for the potential cardiovascular health benefit of financial protections for older individuals.
Located in Retired Persons / Natalie Slopen, Sc.D. / Natalie Slopen Publications
Article Reference Troff document (with manpage macros)Everyday and major experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination and sleep health in a multiethnic population of U.S. women: Findings from the Sister Study
Background Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and poor sleep occur across all races/ethnicities in the U.S., though both are most common among racial/ethnic minorities. Few studies have investigated associations between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and various sleep dimensions in a multiethnic population. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional associations among 40,038 eligible Sister Study participants (enrollment: 2003-2009) who reported ever/never experiencing specific types of everyday (e.g., treated unfairly at a store or restaurant) or major (e.g., unfairly stopped, threatened, or searched by police) discrimination attributed to their race/ethnicity during a follow-up survey in 2008-2012. Participants also reported short sleep duration (<7 hours), sleep debt (≥2-hour difference between longest and shortest sleep duration), frequent napping (≥3 times/week), and insomnia. Poisson regression with robust variance estimation, adjusted for sociodemographic and health characteristics, estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between each type of racial/ethnic discrimination and each sleep dimension, overall and by race/ethnicity. Results Mean age was 55 ± 8.9 years, 89% were NH-white, 8% NH-black, and 3% Hispanic/Latina. NH-black participants were the most likely to report everyday (76% vs. 4% [NH-whites] and 36% [Hispanics/Latinas]) and major racial/ethnic discrimination (52% vs. 2% [NH-whites] and 18% [Hispanics/Latinas]). Participants who experienced both types versus neither were more likely to report short sleep duration (PR=1.17 [95% CI: 1.09-1.25]) and insomnia symptoms (PR=1.10 [1.01-1.20]) but not other poor sleep dimensions. Conclusions Racial/ethnic minority women were most likely to experience racial/ethnic discrimination, which was associated with certain poor sleep dimensions among women of all races/ethnicities.
Located in Retired Persons / Natalie Slopen, Sc.D. / Natalie Slopen Publications