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A Study Led by Amelia Gavin Finds Pre-Pregnancy Depressed Mood May Heighten Risk for Premature Birth

Amelia Gavin

Preterm births are one of the most significant health disparities in the United States, and the overall number of these births increased from 10.6 percent in 2000 to 12.8 percent in 2005," said the study's lead author, Amelia Gavin, a University of Washington assistant professor of social work.

Study Abstract: We examine associations between race, prepregnancy depressive mood, and preterm birth (less than 37 weeks gestation) in a cohort study of 555 Black and White women in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. We tested for mediation of the association between race and preterm births by prepregnancy depressive mood among the sample. Black women had significantly higher levels of prepregnancy depressive mood (modified CES-D score 13.0 vs. 9.5; t = -4.64; p < 0.001). After adjustment for covariates, Black women had 2.70 times the odds of preterm birth than White women (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.41, 5.17). When adding prepregnancy depressive mood to this model, higher depressive mood was associated with greater odds of preterm birth (odds ratio [OR]: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.07); and the effect of Black race was attenuated (OR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.28, 4.77). Our data suggest that prepregnancy depressive mood may be a risk factor for preterm birth among Black and White women.

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