Racial/ethnic differences in maternal resilience and associations with low birthweight

Objective Evaluate racial/ethnic differences in maternal resilience and its associations with low birthweight (LBW). Study design Retrospective cohort study of 3244 women surveyed in the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The Add Health Resilience Instrument assessed resilience. Logistic regression models explored associations between women's resilience and risk of LBW. Result Resilience scores were lowest in American Indian women. Women with the lowest resilience scores were more likely to deliver a LBW infant than highly resilient women, after adjusting for demographic and health-related factors (aOR 1.58 95% CI 1.05-2.38). The risk-adjusted rate of LBW among highly resilient Black women (15.6%) was significantly higher than the risk-adjusted rate of LBW among highly resilient white women (9.1%,p = 0.01) and highly resilient Hispanic women (8.6%,p = 0.04). Conclusion Resilience scores differ significantly among women of different race and ethnicity but do not appear to entirely account for racial/ethnic disparities in LBW.