Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context
Background: The race-based traumatic stress model proposes that discrimination elicits trauma-related symptoms. Cumulative discriminatory experiences and subsequent trauma symptoms may lead to prenatal inflammation, with far reaching consequences for the health of a mother and her child. Methods: La...
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354624001923 |
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| author | Rebeca Alvarado-Harris Krista Perreira Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe William Roger Mills‐Koonce Hudson P. Santos, Jr. |
| author_facet | Rebeca Alvarado-Harris Krista Perreira Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe William Roger Mills‐Koonce Hudson P. Santos, Jr. |
| author_sort | Rebeca Alvarado-Harris |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The race-based traumatic stress model proposes that discrimination elicits trauma-related symptoms. Cumulative discriminatory experiences and subsequent trauma symptoms may lead to prenatal inflammation, with far reaching consequences for the health of a mother and her child. Methods: Latina mothers, primarily of Mexican and Central American heritage (n = 150), completed the Everyday Discrimination Scale and the Traumatic Avoidance subscale of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms-II during pregnancy (24–32 weeks). Plasma levels of cytokines were measured with multiplex assays, which were aggregated into a pro-inflammatory cytokine profile (IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-8) after a Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported this approach. Results: Latina mothers who grew up in the US reported more discrimination, more traumatic avoidance symptoms, and had a more elevated cytokine profile than those who immigrated after childhood. Based on a two-mediator sequential model, discrimination and traumatic avoidance symptoms sequentially provided mechanistic support for the higher levels of cytokines observed in mothers who grew up in the US. Additionally, mothers who experienced trauma symptoms in response to discrimination had an elevated cytokine profile, whereas those who did not had a suppressed cytokine profile. Conclusion: This is among the first studies to examine the association between trauma symptoms, discrimination, and inflammation during pregnancy. In so doing, it elucidates critical pathways by which discrimination may be differentially biologically embedded across immigrant generations. Emotional responses to and chronicity of discrimination may be critical factors for understanding how experiences of discrimination may influence the maternal inflammatory milieu. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-225f9119605d426a9717a9fb4e1e17c2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-3546 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-225f9119605d426a9717a9fb4e1e17c22025-01-26T05:04:59ZengElsevierBrain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health2666-35462025-02-0143100914Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized contextRebeca Alvarado-Harris0Krista Perreira1Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe2William Roger Mills‐Koonce3Hudson P. Santos, Jr.4School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States; Corresponding author.Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United StatesSchool of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United StatesSchool of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United StatesThe University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, Florida, United States; Corresponding author. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States.Background: The race-based traumatic stress model proposes that discrimination elicits trauma-related symptoms. Cumulative discriminatory experiences and subsequent trauma symptoms may lead to prenatal inflammation, with far reaching consequences for the health of a mother and her child. Methods: Latina mothers, primarily of Mexican and Central American heritage (n = 150), completed the Everyday Discrimination Scale and the Traumatic Avoidance subscale of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms-II during pregnancy (24–32 weeks). Plasma levels of cytokines were measured with multiplex assays, which were aggregated into a pro-inflammatory cytokine profile (IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-8) after a Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported this approach. Results: Latina mothers who grew up in the US reported more discrimination, more traumatic avoidance symptoms, and had a more elevated cytokine profile than those who immigrated after childhood. Based on a two-mediator sequential model, discrimination and traumatic avoidance symptoms sequentially provided mechanistic support for the higher levels of cytokines observed in mothers who grew up in the US. Additionally, mothers who experienced trauma symptoms in response to discrimination had an elevated cytokine profile, whereas those who did not had a suppressed cytokine profile. Conclusion: This is among the first studies to examine the association between trauma symptoms, discrimination, and inflammation during pregnancy. In so doing, it elucidates critical pathways by which discrimination may be differentially biologically embedded across immigrant generations. Emotional responses to and chronicity of discrimination may be critical factors for understanding how experiences of discrimination may influence the maternal inflammatory milieu.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354624001923Hispanic or LatinoTraumaInflammationDiscriminationPregnancyImmigrant |
| spellingShingle | Rebeca Alvarado-Harris Krista Perreira Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe William Roger Mills‐Koonce Hudson P. Santos, Jr. Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health Hispanic or Latino Trauma Inflammation Discrimination Pregnancy Immigrant |
| title | Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context |
| title_full | Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context |
| title_fullStr | Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context |
| title_short | Prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in Latina mothers: The role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context |
| title_sort | prenatal inflammation and trauma symptoms in latina mothers the role of discrimination and growing up in an ethnic minoritized context |
| topic | Hispanic or Latino Trauma Inflammation Discrimination Pregnancy Immigrant |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354624001923 |
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