Acculturation and low-birthweight infants among Latino women: a reanalysis of HHANES data with structural equation models.

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that acculturation is associated with negative birth outcomes among mothers in numerous immigrant populations, including Latinas. This study used structural equation models to reanalyze data employed in the 1989 Scribner and Dwyer study on the effect of acculturation (measured through the Cuellar scale) on mothers' low-birthweight status. Data revealed that language components dominate the effects of acculturation on low-birthweight status. Acculturuation appears to affect low-birthweight status indirectly through smoking and dietary intake but not through parity. Acculturation has a persistent direct effect on low-birthweight status, suggesting that other intervening variables are operant.