Preconception Stress, Birth Weight, and Birth Weight Disparities Among US Women

Objectives. We examined the impact of preconception acute and chronic stressors on offspring birth weight and racial/ethnic birth weight disparities. Methods. We included birth weights for singleton live first (n = 3512) and second (n = 1901) births to White, Mexican-origin Latina, other-origin Latina, and Black women reported at wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (2007-2008; ages 24-32 years). We generated factor scores for preconception acute and chronic stressors from wave I (1994-1995; ages 11-19 years) or wave III (2001-2002; ages 18-26 years) for the same cohort of women. Results. Linear regression models indicated that chronic stressors, but not acute stressors, were inversely associated with birth weight for both first and second births (b = -192; 95% confidence interval = -270, -113; and b = -180; 95% confidence interval = -315, -45, respectively), and partially explained the disparities in birth weight between the minority racial/ethnic groups and Whites. Conclusions. Preconception chronic stressors contribute to restricted birth weight and to racial/ethnic birth weight disparities.