Neighborhood Environment and Perceived Stress Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Childbearing Black Women.
Carmen Giurgescu, Rosemary Adaji, Suzanne Hyer and 2 others
PMID 39074329WHAT IT FOUND
Black women reported lower stress and lower social support postpartum during the pandemic than they had while pregnant before the pandemic; depression did not change enough to be clear, and stress and depression stayed linked to neighborhood disorder and crime.
Key findings
01Perceived stress was lower during the pandemic than prior to the pandemic (17.01 and 18.78, p <.01).
02Social support was lower during the pandemic than prior to the pandemic (70.75 and 76.28, p <.01), and the increase in depressive symptoms was not statistically significant.
03Perceived stress and depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with perceived neighborhood disorder and crime both prior to and during the pandemic.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 143 women from the Midwest were analysed, so the findings may not apply to all Black women or to other regions. Only some women completed the pandemic survey, and the authors note selection bias because women with lower stress may have been more likely to respond. The before-pandemic answers were given while pregnant and the during-pandemic answers were given postpartum, so the change may reflect pregnancy status, becoming a parent, or time since birth rather than the pandemic alone. The pandemic surveys were completed from late May 2020 to January 2021, which covered different phases of the pandemic.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lower stress during the pandemic as proof that the pandemic reduced stress. The women were pregnant before the pandemic and postpartum during it, depression did not change significantly, and the study shows links rather than causes.