Background: Syndemics are co-occurring epidemics that synergistically contribute to specific risks or health outcomes. Although there is substantial evidence demonstrating their existence, little is known about their change over time in adolescents. Purpose: The objectives of this paper were to identify longitudinal changes in a syndemic of substance use, intimate partner violence, and depression and determine whether immigration/cultural factors moderate this syndemic over time. Methods: In a cohort of 772 pregnant Latina adolescents (ages 14-21) in New York City, we examined substance use, intimate partner violence, and depression as a syndemic. We used longitudinal mixed-effect modeling to evaluate whether higher syndemic score predicted higher syndemic severity, from pregnancy through 1 year postpartum. Interaction terms were used to determine whether immigrant generation and separated orientation were significant moderators of change over time. Results: We found a significant increasing linear effect for syndemic severity over time (β = 0.0413, P = 0.005). Syndemic score significantly predicted syndemic severity (β = -0.1390, P ≤ 0.0001), as did immigrant generation (βImmigrant = -0.1348, P ≤ 0.0001; β1stGen = -0.1932, P = 0.0005). Both immigrant generation (βImmigrant = -0.1125, P = 0.0035; β1stGen = -0.0135, P = 0.7279) and separated orientation (β = 0.0946, P = 0.0299) were significantly associated with change in severity from pregnancy to 1 year postpartum. Conclusion: Pregnancy provides an opportunity for reducing syndemic risk among Latina adolescents. Future research should explore syndemic changes over time, particularly among high-risk adolescents. Prevention should target syndemic risk reduction in the postpartum period to ensure that risk factors do not increase after pregnancy.
Background: Syndemics are co-occurring epidemics that synergistically contribute to specific risks or health outcomes. Although there is substantial evidence demonstrating their existence, little is known about their change over time in adolescents. Purpose: The objectives of this paper were to identify longitudinal changes in a syndemic of substance use, intimate partner violence, and depression and determine whether immigration/cultural factors moderate this syndemic over time. Methods: In a cohort of 772 pregnant Latina adolescents (ages 14-21) in New York City, we examined substance use, intimate partner violence, and depression as a syndemic. We used longitudinal mixed-effect modeling to evaluate whether higher syndemic score predicted higher syndemic severity, from pregnancy through 1 year postpartum. Interaction terms were used to determine whether immigrant generation and separated orientation were significant moderators of change over time. Results: We found a significant increasing linear effect for syndemic severity over time (β = 0.0413, P = 0.005). Syndemic score significantly predicted syndemic severity (β = -0.1390, P ≤ 0.0001), as did immigrant generation (βImmigrant = -0.1348, P ≤ 0.0001; β1stGen = -0.1932, P = 0.0005). Both immigrant generation (βImmigrant = -0.1125, P = 0.0035; β1stGen = -0.0135, P = 0.7279) and separated orientation (β = 0.0946, P = 0.0299) were significantly associated with change in severity from pregnancy to 1 year postpartum. Conclusion: Pregnancy provides an opportunity for reducing syndemic risk among Latina adolescents. Future research should explore syndemic changes over time, particularly among high-risk adolescents. Prevention should target syndemic risk reduction in the postpartum period to ensure that risk factors do not increase after pregnancy.
Authors: Michael A Rodríguez; Jeanette Valentine; Sawssan R Ahmed; David P Eisenman; Lekeisha A Sumner; Marysue V Heilemann; Honghu Liu Journal: Violence Against Women Date: 2010-05
Authors: Bruce Fuller; Margaret Bridges; Edward Bein; Heeju Jang; Sunyoung Jung; Sophia Rabe-Hesketh; Neal Halfon; Alice Kuo Journal: Matern Child Health J Date: 2009-06-25
Authors: Jennifer J Mootz; Cale N Basaraba; Thomas Corbeil; Karen Johnson; Kefentse P Kubanga; Milton L Wainberg; Kaveh Khoshnood Journal: J Trauma Stress Date: 2021-10-13
Authors: Jordan L Thomas; Jessica B Lewis; Isabel Martinez; Shayna D Cunningham; Moiuri Siddique; Jonathan N Tobin; Jeannette R Ickovics Journal: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth Date: 2019-04-26 Impact factor: 3.007
Authors: Akaninyene Noah; Ashley V Hill; Maria J Perez-Patron; Abbey B Berenson; Camilla R Comeaux; Brandie D Taylor Journal: Reprod Sci Date: 2022-02-25 Impact factor: 3.060