Does fertility-specific distress vary by race/ethnicity among a probability sample of women in the United States?

J Health Psychol. 2016 Feb;21(2):183-92. doi: 10.1177/1359105314524970. Epub 2014 Mar 24.

Abstract

This study explored whether fertility-specific distress varied by race/ethnicity among a nationally representative sample of US women. Participants were 2363 White (n = 1266), Black (n = 569), Hispanic (n = 453), and Asian (n = 51) women who participated in the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. Participants were given the Fertility-Specific Distress Scale and assessed for strength of pregnancy intent, primary versus secondary infertility, and socioeconomic hardship. Black women reported lower levels of fertility-specific distress than White women, but these were fully mediated by the strength of pregnancy intentions. Primary versus secondary infertility and economic hardship were not associated with fertility-specific distress.

Keywords: black; disparities; distress; ethnicity; hispanic; infertility; race; white.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Health Services
  • Humans
  • Infertility / ethnology*
  • Infertility / psychology
  • Intention*
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Pregnancy
  • Racial Groups / psychology*
  • Sampling Studies
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Stress, Psychological / ethnology*
  • United States