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Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Jackson, FM; James, SA; Owens, TC; Bryan, AF
Published in: Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
April 2017

The widely publicized violent encounters between police and African American youth have unknown consequences for the emotional and mental health of pregnant African American women. Since studies document the hypervigilance black mothers exert to protect children from violence and racism and findings also reveal the association between racial and gendered stress (which includes parenting stressors) and depressive symptoms during pregnancy, an examination of the effects of stress from anticipated negative experiences between black youth and police on maternal mental health is warranted. Between July and August 2014, 100 mostly low income pregnant African American women who lived in metropolitan Atlanta and were in their first and second trimesters completed the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, selected items from the Jackson, Hogue, Phillips contextualized stress measure, and a demographic form. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted in response to questions that asked: (1) is the anticipation of negative encounters between black youth and police associated with antenatal depressive symptoms and (2) how does the presence of prior children, male or female, contribute to the association? For question 1, the results showed that anticipated negative African American youth-police experiences were significantly associated with antenatal depressive symptoms χ 2 (2, N = 87) = 12.62, p = .002. For question 2, the presence of a preschool-aged male child in the home was significantly associated with antenatal depression (p = .009, odds ratio = 13.23). The observed associations between antenatal depressive symptoms and anticipated negative police-youth encounters have implications for clinical- and community-based interventions responding to the unique psychosocial risks for pregnant African American women.

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Published In

Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine

DOI

EISSN

1468-2869

ISSN

1099-3460

Publication Date

April 2017

Volume

94

Issue

2

Start / End Page

259 / 265

Related Subject Headings

  • Urban Health
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Racism
  • Public Health
  • Pregnancy
  • Poverty
  • Police
  • Mental Health
  • Humans
  • Georgia
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Jackson, F. M., James, S. A., Owens, T. C., & Bryan, A. F. (2017). Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report. Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 94(2), 259–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0136-3
Jackson, Fleda Mask, Sherman A. James, Tracy Curry Owens, and Alpha F. Bryan. “Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report.Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 94, no. 2 (April 2017): 259–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-017-0136-3.
Jackson FM, James SA, Owens TC, Bryan AF. Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report. Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 2017 Apr;94(2):259–65.
Jackson, Fleda Mask, et al. “Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report.Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, vol. 94, no. 2, Apr. 2017, pp. 259–65. Epmc, doi:10.1007/s11524-017-0136-3.
Jackson FM, James SA, Owens TC, Bryan AF. Anticipated Negative Police-Youth Encounters and Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant African American Women: A Brief Report. Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 2017 Apr;94(2):259–265.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine

DOI

EISSN

1468-2869

ISSN

1099-3460

Publication Date

April 2017

Volume

94

Issue

2

Start / End Page

259 / 265

Related Subject Headings

  • Urban Health
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Racism
  • Public Health
  • Pregnancy
  • Poverty
  • Police
  • Mental Health
  • Humans
  • Georgia