Acculturation and Reproductive Health Disparities in Mexican-Origin Adolescents

描述（由申请人提供）：NRSA在护理研究方面的培训补助金的长期目标是支持申请人作为护士科学家的培训，致力于了解和减少美国墨西哥裔人口的生殖健康差异。国家护理研究所的战略计划强调减少和消除健康差距，美国墨西哥裔青少年女性的生殖健康差距很大，包括增加分娩的风险。以前的研究在青少年生殖健康行为集中在个人和家庭的危险因素，并没有解决的异质性，包括原籍国和移民身份，这限制了探索的结构性因素的影响。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。该培训计划将为一个研究项目提供支持，该项目旨在通过三个具体目标调查性别和性的文化结构如何介导墨西哥裔青少年女性的结构因素和生殖健康行为之间的关系：（1）调查结构因素（即，社区一级的贫困，居住隔离）影响生殖健康行为（即，第一次生育年龄、第一次性行为年龄、避孕药具使用情况）。这一目标将通过国家青少年健康纵向研究的二级数据分析来实现。(2)探讨如何跨三代移民的墨西哥裔青少年女性的性别和性的文化结构不同。这一目标将通过在科罗拉多丹佛的墨西哥社区进行半结构化的生活史访谈来实现。(3)解释性别和性的文化结构如何介导结构因素和生殖健康行为之间的关系，在三个移民世代的墨西哥裔青少年女性。这一目标将通过定量和定性数据的整合和分析来实现。该培训计划是跨学科的，生物行为的，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，以提高护理研究。随着美国墨西哥裔人口的快速增长，再加上整个生命周期的显著健康和经济差异，该研究项目将解决文献中的差距，是及时的，并有可能提供干预措施的证据，可以减少健康差距，改善人口健康，提高墨西哥裔美国人的生活质量。

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.