Does Racial Segregation Aggravate or Alleviate the Association between Race/Ethnicity and Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy: A Multilevel Analysis

Carla Shoff, Pennsylvania State University
Tse-Chuan Yang, Pennsylvania State University
Nyesha C. Black, Pennsylvania State University
Corey S. Sparks, University of Texas at San Antonio

Smoking during pregnancy has significant implications for both the mother and her child. Despite these risks, approximately 10 percent of women smoke during their pregnancy. The majority of studies on smoking during pregnancy have focused on maternal characteristics, and have ignored characteristics of the residential context in which women live. This study builds upon previous studies of smoking during pregnancy by examining how residential segregation is associated with the odds of smoking during pregnancy among white, black, Asian, and Hispanic women in the continental US. We also consider how individual race interacts with residential segregation to influence maternal smoking during pregnancy. Preliminary results show there is no direct effect of segregation on smoking during pregnancy; however, segregation moderates the race/ethnicity-smoking during pregnancy relationship. Living in a more segregated area increases the odds of smoking during pregnancy for black women and decreases the odds for Asian and Hispanic women.