City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Department of Community Health and Social Sciences, New York, NY.
Ethn Dis. 2020 Sep 24;30(4):525-532. doi: 10.18865/ed.30.4.525. eCollection 2020 Fall.
Black and Latinx individuals are often the focus of health educational efforts to 'correct' perceived flawed beliefs about pregnancy, in order to increase contraceptive use and reduce unintended pregnancies. We sought to revisit the association between race, ethnicity, and beliefs about pregnancy.
We administered a web-based survey to 2,099 heterosexual men and women aged 21-44 years, using non-probability quota sampling. We analyzed a subset who were not currently pregnant (n=1,884) and conducted chi-square tests to examine the association between race/ethnicity and beliefs about avoiding pregnancy (can be avoided, determined by fate/God, 'just happens,' and is a natural process). We then performed a two-stage multinomial logistic regression, modeling the belief that pregnancy can be avoided. The first model included sociodemographic characteristics and the second model added feelings about pregnancy.
Bivariate analyses revealed that, compared with Whites, those who identified as Black/African American or Latinx were significantly more likely to believe that pregnancy was determined by fate/God (15%,13% vs 9%, respectively) or a natural process (13%,13% vs 9%, respectively) and less likely to report that it can be avoided (57%,56% vs 67%, respectively; P=.001). In the first regression model, these differences persisted. However, in the second model, being Black/African American or Latinx was not significantly associated with beliefs about avoiding pregnancy.
Our findings suggest that once more nuanced beliefs about pregnancy prevention are considered, Black and Latinx individuals do not hold strongly different beliefs than Whites. Efforts that exclusively focus on people of color to change beliefs about pregnancy appear unwarranted.
黑人和拉丁裔个体通常是健康教育培训工作的重点，目的是纠正人们对怀孕的错误看法，以增加避孕措施的使用并减少非意愿怀孕。我们试图重新审视种族和族裔与怀孕观念之间的关系。
我们使用非概率配额抽样，向 2099 名年龄在 21-44 岁的异性恋男性和女性进行了一项基于网络的调查。我们分析了未怀孕的亚组（n=1884），并进行了卡方检验，以检验种族/族裔与避免怀孕的观念之间的关系（是否可以避免、是否由命运/上帝决定、是否偶然发生、是否是自然过程）。然后，我们进行了两阶段多项逻辑回归，模拟了认为怀孕可以避免的信念。第一个模型包括社会人口统计学特征，第二个模型增加了对怀孕的感受。
双变量分析显示，与白人相比，黑人/非裔美国人或拉丁裔个体更有可能认为怀孕是由命运/上帝决定的（分别为 15%、13%比 9%）或自然过程（分别为 13%、13%比 9%），而不太可能认为怀孕可以避免（分别为 57%、56%比 67%；P<.001）。在第一个回归模型中，这些差异仍然存在。然而，在第二个模型中，黑人/非裔美国人或拉丁裔个体与对避免怀孕的信念没有显著关联。
我们的研究结果表明，一旦考虑到更细致入微的怀孕预防观念，黑人或拉丁裔个体与白人相比，他们对怀孕的观念并没有明显的差异。针对有色人种改变怀孕观念的专门努力似乎没有必要。
