Relationship With the Father of the Baby and Perceived Stress Among Black Women.
Relicious N Eboh, Carmen Giurgescu, Dawn P Misra
PMID 29944477WHAT IT FOUND
Black mothers reporting a distant or ambiguous current relationship with the baby's father had significantly higher perceived stress than those with close relationships.
Nurses should assess this relationship quality during prenatal visits as a modifiable stressor, regardless of marital status.
Key findings
01Women with a current distant or sometimes close/sometimes distant relationship with the father of the baby reported higher perceived stress scores than those with a current close relationship.
02Forty-three percent of women with a current distant relationship and forty-one percent with an ambiguous current relationship fell into the top 25th percentile for high stress scores, compared to twenty-one percent of women with a close current relationship.
03The current relationship with the father of the baby appeared more strongly associated with stress levels than the relationship prior to pregnancy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only Black women from a single medical center in Detroit, so results may not generalize to other racial groups or geographic areas. Data relied entirely on maternal self-report; fathers' perceptions of the relationship were not assessed. As a secondary analysis of a cohort study, it identifies associations but cannot prove that relationship quality causes stress.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that marital status or cohabitation alone determines relationship quality or stress levels. The study shows that women in close relationships had lower stress, but this was based on perceived closeness, not legal status. Assessing the actual emotional dynamic is necessary.