Neighborhood-Level Mass Incarceration and Future Preterm Birth Risk among African American Women

Abstract

While evidence for neighborhood effects on adverse birth outcomes is growing, no studies have examined whether living in a neighborhood impacted by mass incarceration is associated with preterm birth risk. We used modified Poisson regression to test whether residence in a neighborhood impacted by mass incarceration predicted future risk of preterm birth, among African American women. We linked data from the Justice Atlas of Sentencing and Corrections to survey and medical record data from the Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments study (n = 681). We also tested for effect modification by age and marital status. The association between prison admission expenditures and future risk of PTB varied by maternal age at birth, with younger women (< 35) having a modest increase in risk (relative risk (RR) 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.99, 1.15), and older (35+ year old) women having lower risk (RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.69, 1.07). The association between the number of prison admissions due to new court cases and future risk of PTB varied by marital status, with evidence that married women may be protected (RR 0.75; 95% CI 0.61, 0.92), while little evidence of association was observed among unmarried women (RR 1.02; 95% CI 0.80, 1.30). The association between residence in an area impacted by mass incarceration and future risk of PTB among African American women may vary by age and marital status. Future research to identify the mechanisms of these associations is warranted.

A comprehensive framework for operationalizing structural racism in health research: The association between mass incarceration of Black people in the U.S. and adverse birth outcomes

“…For instance, concentrations of incarceration at the state level correlate positively with infant mortality, PTB, and LBW ( Conway, 2021 ; Wallace et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Wildeman, 2012 ). Similar associations for PTB and LBW are evident at the county ( Chambers et al, 2018 ; Dyer et al, 2019 ; Jahn et al, 2020 ) and neighborhood levels ( Sealy-Jefferson et al, 2020 ) as well. The evidence is mixed as to whether these relationships are different for Black versus White populations with some studies finding no between-group variation ( Wallace et al, 2015 , 2017 ) and others detecting stronger correlations in Black populations ( Conway, 2021 ; Dyer et al, 2019 ; Wildeman, 2012 ).…”

“…Mothers of imprisoned adult children and women with incarcerated spouses are significantly more likely than the general population to have obesity, have had a heart attack or stroke, contract sexually transmitted infections, and be in poor general health ( Dauria et al, 2015 ; Goldman, 2019 ; Lee et al, 2014 ). Beyond the individual's immediate social ties, concentrated incarceration rates at the neighborhood, zip-code, county, and state levels, have been positively associated with a range of physical and mental morbidities ( Dauria et al, 2015 ; Escobar & Taheri, 2020 ; Frank et al, 2013 ; Hatzenbuehler et al, 2015 ; Holaday et al, 2021 ; Kajeepeta et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Nowotny et al, 2020 ; Ojikutu et al, 2018 ; Porter, Thomas, & Emch, 2010 ; Topel et al, 2018 ), including adverse birth outcomes – the focal health outcome in this paper ( Chambers et al, 2018 ; Conway, 2021 ; Dyer et al, 2019 ; Jahn et al, 2020 ; Sealy-Jefferson et al, 2020 ; Wallace et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Wildeman, 2012 ).…”

A Critical Review on the Complex Interplay between Social Determinants of Health and Maternal and Infant Mortality

“…Another study in New York City found, using ICE, that women residing in areas with the least privilege were more likely to experience a PTB or infant mortality as compared with women residing in the most privileged areas [140]. Other neighborhood-level based SDoH factors, such as neighborhood poverty level, structural deterioration, areas impacted by mass incarceration, and historical redlining, are associated with adverse birth outcomes (i.e., LBW and PTB) especially among Black infants and mothers [31,[141][142][143]. More studies are needed to confirm the relationship of neighborhood deprivation with infant mortality and PTB, to examine its relationship with LBW, and to investigate the mechanisms through which neighborhood deprivation affects infant health outcomes and contributes to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities.…”

County-level jail incarceration, community economic distress, rurality, and preterm birth among women in the US South

“…59 used data from a sample of Black women in California to test the predictive power of incarceration rate on risk of preterm birth up to 2 years later and failed to identify a significant relationship between preterm birth and incarceration rate. 60 Measurement variation across studies and limitations in stratification across databases make inconsistencies in research findings inevitable and replication of findings difficult. In the context of our study, there were several areas in which measurement decisions may have resulted in inconsistent results.…”