Paternal Role in Adverse Birth Outcomes in Black Families

许多因素都被认为是导致不良出生的可能原因。 黑人女性的结果。现有的研究在检查婴儿的作用方面是有限的 父亲在孕妇生活中的作用。正如我们已经报道的，为数不多的研究探索了父系 对分娩结果的影响通常排除了对动态的、复杂的和经常相关的 母父关系。鉴于父亲作为供养者角色的重要性，研究发现 通常仅限于对父亲的年龄、职业或社会经济地位的检查。建议数 研究将评估父亲是否以及如何对成功的分娩结果产生影响(出生体重， 胎龄)。我们对黑人父亲和生育结果的研究建立在我们之前的研究和 其他人虽然在几个重要方面有所不同。这项研究的创新方面包括直接收集 来自父亲的数据，对父母关系的评估，以及纳入很少研究的措施， 尤其是与父亲有关的因素，如歧视、邻里环境和端粒长度 生命的历程。这项研究补充了最近资助的NIH R01社会应激源和炎症：a 混合方法接近早产(Giurescu Pi，Misra，co-I)400名婴儿的父亲(将 该研究中怀孕的黑人妇女(出生的)将被招募到拟议的研究中。父亲和母亲 将在产前和出生后第一周内接受面谈。关于出生结局和 来自Bibb的其他产妇社会、心理和生物医学数据将补充这一数据 针对这些目标进行研究。因此，多个数据源将可用来提供更全面的 对父亲的评估是黑人妇女怀孕的社会环境的一部分。我们的目标是 为了：(1)确定怀孕期间的母父关系(支持、冲突)如何与母亲 和/或父性因素；以及(2)决定父性因素是否以及如何与出生结果(出生)相关 体重、出生时胎龄)。 在怀孕的黑人父母的生活中，复杂的过程正在发挥作用。通过以下方式了解机制 这些过程的展开对于阐明影响生育的风险和保护因素至关重要 结果。尽管文献已经确定了一些与母亲有关的风险因素，但很少有人关注 人们一直致力于理解父亲与出生结果相关的角色。了解他们的贡献 对分娩结果的干预可以将服务、干预和政策努力扩大到母亲以外的领域。

A wide range of factors have been examined as potential explanations for the high rates of adverse birth outcomes for Black women. Available research is limited in the extent to which it examines the role of babies' fathers in the lives of pregnant women. As we have reported, the few studies that have explored paternal effects on birth outcomes have generally excluded understanding the dynamic, complex, and often correlated maternal-paternal relationship. Given the significance placed on the father's role as a provider, studies have often have been limited to an examination of paternal age, occupation, or socioeconomic status. The proposed study will assess whether and how fathers may have an impact on successful birth outcomes (birth weight, gestational age). Our study of Black fathers and birth outcomes builds on our previous studies and those of others although differing in several important ways. Innovative aspects of this study include direct collection of data from fathers, assessment of the mother-father relationship, and inclusion of measures rarely studied, particularly as related to fathers, such as discrimination, neighborhood environment, and telomere length across the life course. This study complements the recently funded NIH R01 Social stressors and Inflammation: A Mixed Methods Approach to Preterm Birth (Giurgescu PI, Misra, co-I) in that 400 fathers of the babies (to be born) of pregnant Black women in that study will be recruited for the proposed study. Both fathers and mothers will be interviewed during the prenatal period and within the first week after birth. Data on birth outcomes and additional maternal social, psychological, and biomedical data from BIBB will complement data from this study to address the aims. Thus, multiple sources of data will be available to provide a more comprehensive assessment of fathers as part of the social environment in which Black women experience pregnancies. We aim to: (1) Determine how the mother-father relationship (support, conflict) during pregnancy relates to maternal and/or paternal factors; and (2) Determine whether and how paternal factors relate to birth outcomes (birth weight, gestational age at birth). Complex processes are at work in the lives of pregnant Black parents. Understanding mechanisms through which these processes unfold is imperative for articulating risk and protective factors influencing birth outcomes. Although the literature has identified a number of risk factors associated with mothers, little attention has been given to understanding the role of fathers related to birth outcomes. Understanding their contributions to birth outcomes could expand service, intervention, and policy efforts beyond mothers.