Perceived Discrimination and Social Isolation Among Postpartum Hispanic Women in the MADRES Pregnancy Cohort Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Previous research has shown that perceived discrimination and social isolation due to immigration policies have important health implications among US Hispanic populations. Moreover, the early postpartum period is characterized by periods of social isolation which may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also coincided with a growing awareness of discrimination and structural racism experienced by marginalized communities. We evaluated differences in perceived discrimination and social isolation between early postpartum Hispanic women in Los Angeles before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Questionnaires were administered at one month postpartum to 176 Hispanic women in the MADRES pregnancy cohort. Perceived discrimination and social isolation are two subscales on the Perceived Immigration Policy Effects (PIPES) questionnaire. Respondents between 9/1/2018–3/1/2020 were classified as “pre-pandemic” (N=129) and between 3/1/2020–9/14/2020 as “during the pandemic” (N=47). Average social isolation and discrimination subscale scores were rounded to the nearest integer. Proportional odds models were used to evaluate COVID-19 pandemic impacts on perceived discrimination and social isolation among postpartum mothers. RESULTS:Participants were on average 28.9 (SD=5.9) years old and approximately half were born in Latin America (51.7%). Average pre-pandemic scores were 1.2 (SD=0.5) for both discrimination and social isolation and 1.4 (SD=0.6) for discrimination and 1.5 (SD=0.7) for social isolation during the pandemic. After adjusting for age, education, nativity, and postpartum distress, participants at one month postpartum during the pandemic had 3.98 times the odds of a higher score on the perceived discrimination scale (p=0.0017) and 5.29 times the odds of a higher score on the social isolation scale (p0.0001) than those responding to the questionnaire at one month postpartum before the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS:Higher perceived discrimination and social isolation at one month postpartum during the COVID-19 pandemic vs. pre-pandemic periods suggest increased social inequities during the pandemic among US Hispanic women. KEYWORDS: COVID-19, Mental health outcomes, Non-chemical stressors