The role of acculturation in explaining ethnic differences in the prenatalhealth-risk behaviors, mental health, and parenting beliefs of Mexican American and European American at-risk women

Objective: To assess: (1) ethnic differences in the health-risk behaviors, mental health problems, and adverse parenting beliefs during pregnancy of l ow-income Mexican American and European American women; and, (2) the extent to which these risks varied with levels of acculturation among low-income Mexican American women. Method: participants were 594 primiparous, low-income, urban women. A cross -sectional design was used to compare the 331 Mexican American women to the 263 European American. Language was used to assess the level of acculturat ion of the Mexican American women. Interviews were used to evaluate health- risk behaviors, mental health problems, and adverse parenting beliefs. Results: In comparison to European American women, Mexican American women w ere at lower risk for cigarette smoking during pregnancy and higher risk fo r adverse parenting beliefs. Among Mexican American women, Spanish speakers were at lower risk for cigarette smoking and mental health problems during pregnancy, and higher risk for adverse parenting beliefs than bilingual an d English speakers. Conclusions: The findings indicate that ethnic differences in cigarette smo king and parenting beliefs during pregnancy were concentrated on the less a cculturated, low-income, and primarily unmarried Spanish speaking Mexican A merican women. Moreover, acculturation is differentially related to cigaret te smoking and parenting beliefs. Therefore, accumulation needs to be consi dered in the development of preventive interventions in order to appropriat ely target the specific needs of different sub-populations of Mexican Ameri cans. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.