Stress, self-esteem, and racism: relationships with low birth weight and preterm delivery in African American women.

Low birth weight (LBW) is two times greater for African Americans than for Whites. Stress, self-esteem, and racism were proposed as correlates for LBW. A sample of African American women (N = 165) were interviewed in a prenatal HMO. Multiple regressions analyses run on the final sample (N = 147) demonstrated no significant relationship between stress, self-esteem, and racism with newborn birth weight or gestational age. A significant positive relationship, however, between racism and stress (p < .001) and a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and stress (p < .001) were demonstrated. Continued research on variables such as stress, self-esteem, and racism is necessary to understand their relationships to LBW in the African American childbearing family.