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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (5 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UCLA Previously Published Works (2023)
Grandmothers are often critical helpers during a mother's reproductive career. Studies on the developmental origins of health and disease demonstrate how maternal psychological distress can negatively influence fetal development and birth outcomes, highlighting an area in which soon-to-be grandmothers (henceforth "grandmothers") can invest to improve both mother and offspring well-being. Here, we examine if and how a pregnant woman's mental health- specifically, depression, state-anxiety, and pregnancy-related anxiety- is influenced by her relationship with her fetus' maternal and paternal grandmother, controlling for relationship characteristics with her fetus' father. In a cohort of pregnant Latina women in Southern California (N = 216), we assessed social support, geographic proximity, and communication between the fetus' grandmothers and pregnant mother. We assessed maternal mental health with validated questionnaire-based instruments. We find that both social support from and communication with the maternal grandmother were statistically associated with less depression, while no paternal grandmother relationship characteristics were statistically significant in association with any mental health variable. These results align with the idea that maternal grandmothers are more adaptively incentivized to invest in their daughters' well-being during pregnancy than paternal grandmothers are for their daughters-in-law. Results suggest that the positive association of maternal grandmothers with mothers' mental health may not hinge on geographic proximity, but rather, potentially function through emotional support. This work represents a novel perspective describing a psychological and prenatal grandmaternal effect.
    Cover page: An evolutionary perspective on the association between grandmother-mother relationships and maternal mental health among a cohort of pregnant Latina women
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UCLA Previously Published Works (2024)
    Ethnic discrimination during pregnancy is linked to maternal psychological distress, adverse birth outcomes and increased offspring morbidity and mortality. An evolutionary perspective reframes offspring health issues as a risk to maternal fitness. We argue that kin may be evolutionarily motivated to buffer psychosocial stressors for the mother during pregnancy. Previously, we found that the relationship of a pregnant woman with her own mother (fetus maternal grandmother) had a positive association on maternal prenatal psychology, above and beyond her relationship with her fetus father. Here, we ask if grandmothers buffer mothers prenatal psychological distress from ethnic discrimination. Using self-report data collected from 216 pregnant Latina women living in Southern California, we found discrimination to be significantly, positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in linear regression models. Maternal grandmother communication attenuated the association of discrimination and all three psychological distress measures, adjusting for the mothers relationship with the father. Maternal grandmother emotional support similarly significantly moderated the relationship of discrimination with depression and anxiety. We did not observe any significant interactions for paternal grandmother relationships. Geographic proximity was not a significant stress buffer. Results suggest the important role maternal grandmothers play in perinatal mental health, and that these benefits exist uncoupled from geographic proximity.
      Cover page: Maternal grandmothers buffer the effects of ethnic discrimination among pregnant Latina mothers.
      • Thesis
      • Peer Reviewed
      UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2024)

      In the last decade, maternal and fetal health patterns have worsened in the United States. Within this context, Latina women are experiencing escalating stressors, including greater levels of discrimination and political victimization. Stressors can become embodied (or ‘get under the skin’) through psychological distress. When this occurs during pregnancy, stress embodiment can lead to disparities in birth outcomes through pathways that have yet to be elucidated. In order to study these intergenerational cycles of health disparities and how to interrupt them, I use a mixed-methods approach and offer a richer description of stress embodiment and cultural resilience. This dissertation utilizes an innovative confluence of anthropological frameworks and biomolecular techniques, drawing from three data sources (Mothers’ Cultural Experiences Project Waves 1 and 2, and the Supporting Mothers Project) and representing the experiences of almost 300 Latina women living in Southern California. Through qualitative interviewing, I explore the unique perinatal stressors of first-time mothers who are 1.5/2nd generation Mexican (Chapter 5). With quantitative modeling, I replicate the finding that discrimination impacts psychological distress during pregnancy (Chapter 4). I use state-of-the-art immunoaffinity assays from prenatal plasma samples to show how psychological distress in early-gestation relates to dampened levels of placental extracellular vesicles (Chapter 2). This reflects diminished levels of feto-placental communication and, potentially, a proximate explanation of the trends connecting stress and disproportionate rates of low birth weight and preterm birth. In seeking to interrupt health disparities, I assess social support as a major factor in resilience. Specifically, I take an intergenerational approach to show that grandmothers improve maternal psychological well-being and buffer stress during pregnancy (Chapters 3-4). By exploring allocare during the prenatal period, I contribute to the theoretical integration of cooperative breeding theory and the developmental origins of health and disease. Moreover, I qualitatively investigate the resilience women construct from their bicultural identities and the cultural barriers around asking for help (Chapter 5). Altogether, this dissertation offers a multifaceted exploration of perinatal health that contributes to health equity research by using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the experiences of stress and resilience among Latina women.

        Cover page: Embodied experiences: a mixed-methods approach to understanding stress and resilience in Latina mothers
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UCLA Previously Published Works (2019)
        Microorganisms resident in our bodies participate in a variety of regulatory and pathogenic processes. Here, we describe how etiological pathways implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be regulated or disturbed by symbiotic microbial activity. Furthermore, the composition of symbiotic microbes has changed dramatically across human history alongside the rise of agriculturalism, industrialization, and globalization. We postulate that each of these lifestyle transitions engendered progressive depletion of microbial diversity and enhancement of virulence, thereby enhancing AD risk pathways. It is likely that the human life span extended into the eighth decade tens of thousands of years ago, yet little is known about premodern geriatric epidemiology. We propose that microbiota of the gut, oral cavity, nasal cavity, and brain may modulate AD pathogenesis, and that changes in the microbial composition of these body regions across history suggest escalation of AD risk. Dysbiosis may promote immunoregulatory dysfunction due to inadequate education of the immune system, chronic inflammation, and epithelial barrier permeability. Subsequently, proinflammatory agents-and occasionally microbes-may infiltrate the brain and promote AD pathogenic processes. APOE genotypes appear to moderate the effect of dysbiosis on AD risk. Elucidating the effect of symbiotic microbiota on AD pathogenesis could contribute to basic and translational research.
          Cover page: Alzheimer's disease and symbiotic microbiota: an evolutionary medicine perspective.
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UCLA Previously Published Works (2024)
          Latina women living in the USA experience disproportionately higher rates of psychological distress compared to their non-Latina White counterparts. Poor maternal mental health during pregnancy can contribute to intergenerational mental health disparities. Through this pathway, mothers experiences, environments, and exposures (henceforth exposures) during pregnancy become biologically embodied and can negatively affect the fetus and life-long developmental trajectories of her child. One of the exposures that can affect mother-offspring dyads is the neighborhood. With the goal of integrating anthropological and sociological theories to explain mental health disparities among pregnant Latina women, we explored how perceptions of neighbor attitudes may influence mental health during pregnancy. We analyzed self-reported responses from 239 pregnant Latina women in Southern California (131 foreign-born, 108 US-born) on their mental health and perceived attitudes of their neighbors using multiple linear regression models. Among foreign-born Latina women, living in neighborhoods with more favorable views of Latinos was associated with lower depression scores (pooled β =  - .70, SE = .29, p = .019) and lower pregnancy-related anxiety scores (pooled β =  - .11, SE = .05, p = .021), but greater state anxiety scores (pooled β = .09, SE = .04, p = .021). Among US-born women, there were no associations between neighbor attitudes and mental health. Overall, results suggest that social environments are correlated with mental health and that foreign-born and US-born Latinas have varied mental health experiences in the USA. Our findings highlight the importance of improving aspects of neighborhood cohesion as part of maternal-fetal care management.
            Cover page: What Do Your Neighbors Think About You? How Perceived Neighbor Attitudes Toward Latinos Influence Mental Health Among a Pregnant Latina Cohort.
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