Acculturation and Reproductive Health Disparities in Mexican-Origin Adolescents

描述(由申请者提供)：NRSA护理研究培训基金的长期目标是支持申请者作为一名护士科学家接受培训，致力于了解和减少美国墨西哥裔人口的生殖健康差距。国家护理研究所的战略计划强调减少和消除健康差距，在美国墨西哥裔青少年女性中存在着显著的生殖健康差距，包括分娩风险的增加。以往关于青少年生殖健康行为的研究侧重于个人和家庭风险因素，而没有涉及拉美裔人的异质性，包括原籍国和移民身份，这限制了对结构性因素影响的探索。此外，文化的作用及其如何影响青少年的生殖健康行为仍然知之甚少。这一培训计划将为一个研究项目提供支持，该项目旨在调查性别和性的文化结构如何通过三个具体目标在墨西哥裔青春期女性的结构性因素与生殖健康行为之间的关系中起中介作用：(1)调查结构性因素(即社区水平的贫困、居住隔离)如何影响三代墨西哥裔青春期女性移民的生殖健康行为(即初次生育年龄、初次生育年龄、避孕用具使用)。这一目标将通过对国家青少年健康纵向研究的二级数据分析来实现。(2)探索三代墨西哥裔青少年女性在性别和性取向的文化建构上有何不同。这一目标将通过科罗拉多州丹佛市一个墨西哥社区的半结构化生活史访谈来实现。(3)解释性别和性取向的文化结构如何在墨西哥裔三代移民青少年女性的结构因素与生殖健康行为之间的关系中起中介作用。将通过对定量和定性数据进行整合和分析来实现这一目标。这一培训计划I跨学科，生物行为，并利用多层次的混合定量和定性的方法，这是NINR认可的战略，以改善护理研究。随着美国墨西哥裔人口的快速增长，加上一生中健康和经济上的巨大差距，这项研究项目将填补文献中的空白，是及时的，并有可能为干预措施提供证据，这些干预措施可以缩小健康差距，改善人口健康，并提高美国墨西哥裔人的生活质量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objective for this NRSA training grant in nursing research is to support the applicant's training as a nurse scientist committed to understanding and reducing reproductive health disparities in the Mexican-origin population in the United States. Reducing and eliminating health disparities is emphasized in the National Institute of Nursing Research's strategic plan and there are significant reproductive health disparities among Mexican-origin adolescent females in the U.S., including an increased risk for childbirth. Previous research on reproductive health behavior in adolescents has focused on individual and familial risk factors and has not addressed the heterogeneity of Latinos, including country of origin and immigrant status, which has limited exploration of the influence of structural factors. Furthermore, the role of culture and how it influences the reproductive health behavior of adolescents remains poorly understood. This training plan will provide support for a research project to investigate how cultural constructions of gender and sexuality mediate the relationship between structural factors and reproductive health behaviors in Mexican- origin adolescent females through three specific aims: (1) to investigate how structural factors (i.e., community level poverty, residential segregation) influence reproductive health behaviors (i.e., age at first birth, age at first sex, contraceptive use) across three immigrant generations of Mexican-origin adolescent females. This aim will be met through a secondary data analysis of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. (2) To explore how cultural constructions of gender and sexuality differ across three immigrant generations of Mexican-origin adolescent females. This aim will be met through semi-structured life history interviews in a Mexican community in Denver, Colorado. (3) To explain how cultural constructions of gender and sexuality mediate the relationship between structural factors and reproductive health behaviors across three immigrant generations of Mexican-origin adolescent females. This aim will be met through the integration and analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data. This training plan i interdisciplinary, bio-behavioral, and utilizes a multi- level mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, which are strategies endorsed by NINR to improve nursing research. With the rapid growth of the Mexican-origin population in the U.S., coupled with significant health and economic disparities across the lifespan, this research project will address the gaps in the literature, is timely, and has potential to provide evidence for interventions that can reduce health disparities, improve population health, and increase the quality of life for Mexican-origin persons in the U.S.