TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlates of unintended birth among low-income Hispanic immigrants at high risk for depression
AU - Christensen, Anna L.
AU - Perry, Deborah F.
AU - Le, Huynh Nhu
AU - Ahmed, Saifuddin
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - Hispanic women, a large and growing ethnic minority group in the U.S., have an unintended birth rate over twice the national average. However, little is known about unintended birth among Hispanic immigrants. The purpose of this study is to determine the sociodemographic, including immigration-related, correlates of unintended birth in this population. Data were collected as part of a preventive intervention among pregnant Hispanic immigrants at increased risk for depression (n = 215). The correlates of women's self-reported pregnancy intention (intended, mistimed, unwanted) were examined using multinomial logistic regression. Similar to nationally representative findings, unintended birth was more common among younger women, single women and women not cohabiting with their partners, and women with more children. Additionally, women who had immigrated to the U.S. less than 1 year ago had almost a 4 times greater risk of a mistimed birth (RRR = 3.82, P < 0.05) compared to women who immigrated 1-4 years ago. Women with greater social support scores had a reduced chance of mistimed (RRR = 0.98, P < 0.10) and unwanted (RRR = 0.97, P < 0.05) birth. The findings have implications for development of effective and culturally appropriate family planning programs. They suggest that interventions should target young women, women who have achieved their desired family size, and very recent immigrants.
AB - Hispanic women, a large and growing ethnic minority group in the U.S., have an unintended birth rate over twice the national average. However, little is known about unintended birth among Hispanic immigrants. The purpose of this study is to determine the sociodemographic, including immigration-related, correlates of unintended birth in this population. Data were collected as part of a preventive intervention among pregnant Hispanic immigrants at increased risk for depression (n = 215). The correlates of women's self-reported pregnancy intention (intended, mistimed, unwanted) were examined using multinomial logistic regression. Similar to nationally representative findings, unintended birth was more common among younger women, single women and women not cohabiting with their partners, and women with more children. Additionally, women who had immigrated to the U.S. less than 1 year ago had almost a 4 times greater risk of a mistimed birth (RRR = 3.82, P < 0.05) compared to women who immigrated 1-4 years ago. Women with greater social support scores had a reduced chance of mistimed (RRR = 0.98, P < 0.10) and unwanted (RRR = 0.97, P < 0.05) birth. The findings have implications for development of effective and culturally appropriate family planning programs. They suggest that interventions should target young women, women who have achieved their desired family size, and very recent immigrants.
KW - Acculturation
KW - Hispanic
KW - Pregnancy
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U2 - 10.1007/s10903-011-9437-x
DO - 10.1007/s10903-011-9437-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 21240558
AN - SCOPUS:79957474670
SN - 1557-1912
VL - 13
SP - 478
EP - 486
JO - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
JF - Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
IS - 3
ER -