Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2019 Weathering the Storm: An Examination of Fetal Loss, Maternal Age, and Norms of RAndarecwe L aatinnskdy Sexuality Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PUBLIC POLICY WEATHERING THE STORM: AN EXAMINATION OF FETAL LOSS, MATERNAL AGE, AND NORMS OF RACE AND SEXUALITY By ANDREW LATINSKY A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 Andrew Latinsky defended this dissertation on May 29, 2019. The members of the supervisory committee were: Koji Ueno Professor Directing Dissertation Joseph Grzywacz University Representative Amy Burdette Committee Member Miranda Waggoner Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my mentor and dissertation chair, Koji Ueno. Koji has worked tirelessly with me in the process of first a master’s paper and now a dissertation. Knowing that I am not the easiest person to work with, it is a testament to Koji’s efforts that this project was able to come together. I want to especially thank him for indulging my interest in multiple topics that have never exactly fallen into what he probably wanted me to do, and especially for introducing me to ideas academically that have led me to where I am today. Koji has always had my best interests at heart, helped me identify and encouraged me to improve from my personal weak points, and as a result helped me grow as an academic and researcher. I would also like to thank two women in particular; without whom, neither the idea or the execution of this project would have happened. First, one of my committee members Miranda Waggoner. It was in Dr. Waggoner’s maternal and child health course that the genesis of this idea as a final paper was born. More importantly though, it was through her teaching that I transitioned from idle curiosity on this topic to passioned interest. I actively never thought of myself as a health researcher before your class, and this project would not have happened without you. The second person who turned this project from idea to reality is my fiancée Jessica St. Hill, who was the person in discussing the topic together made me consider the idea seriously. Without whom I never would have realized an idea that was solely meant for a final paper was a dissertation-level idea, and who has supported me through the years of graduate school and the dissertation process. Beyond just a paper, I would not be the academic, researcher, or even fundamentally same person I am now without you having been in my life. Thank you for everything my love. iii I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Amy Burdette and Joseph Grzywacz. Thank you for the guidance, time invested, and helpful comments that shaped the long-term direction of this project. Your comments helped me better understand the theoretical underpinnings and critical social connections between the ideas in this project. I will also never stop being amused by the fact I was able to accidently and independently come up with a project that Dr. Grzywacz apparently had the idea for many years ago. I hope that this did not disappoint. I also want to thank my two prior mentors, Anita Anantharam and Scott Carter. To Dr. Anantharam, it has been a long path from my beginnings as an undergraduate engineering student turned women studies major. There is no possibility I would have explored sociology without having the consciousness raising moment of taking my first women studies class. I will always appreciate being your women studies convert. To Dr. Carter, although I made my best effort to be an intersectional scholar, I did not understand race the depth of race theory until I worked under you. You also more than anyone had to manage someone who was for the first- time learning sociology and academic writing, and so I appreciate the many, many, rounds of basic “how to do academia” you had to help me with. Because I am always one step behind my mentors, instead of the race-and-maternal health scholar, you had to work with the online dating study student, but I hope I made good impressions regardless. I also want to thank my parents, Doris and Eric Latinsky. You have helped me directly and indirectly through far too many years of college. I know every major change and next set of years of school over and over again were not exactly what you planned. On the plus side, I know you always wanted me to be a doctor—I just also know this was not the kind you meant when I was a kid. I also want to thank many members of my family and my friends who I did not get to iv directly in this already-long piece. Every word of encouragement, fun time together, song of karaoke, game of cards against humanity, session of D&D, weird inside joke, being nerdy on computer, tabletop, or game topics, piece of good advice, and more is all part of the engine that keeps me going. I am grateful to all of you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 2. THE WEATHERING HYPOTHESIS: EXAMINATIONS OF SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE, CHOICE, AND MEDICAL OUTCOMES ......................................................................................6 3. METHODS ...............................................................................................................................22 4. ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ..................................................36 5. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................................66 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................78 A. IRB APPROVAL LETTER ......................................................................................................78 B. CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH ............................................................................................80 C. CERTIFICATE OF FETAL DEATH .......................................................................................81 D. LOGISTIC REGRESSION RESULTS FOR ADD HEALTH .................................................82 References ......................................................................................................................................83 Biographical Sketch .......................................................................................................................90 vi LIST OF TABLES 1. Summary of All Pregnancy Outcomes (Wave IV: N=16,835 Pregnancies) ..............................52 2. Descriptive Statistics of the Control Variables in the Final Operational Sample (N=16,835 Pregnancies) ...................................................................................................................................53 3. Coefficients of Multilevel Logistic Regression of Risk of Fetal Loss Based on Pregnancy Age and Race (Add Health)...................................................................................................................54 4. Summary of Dependent and Independent Variables (NVSS 2016)...........................................56 5. Summary of Control Variables (NVSS 2016) ...........................................................................57 6. Summary of Variables: Dependent, Independent, and Control Variables (NVSS 2013) ..........58 7. Coefficients of Logistic Regression of Risk of Fetal Loss Based on Pregnancy Age and Race (NVSS 2016) ..................................................................................................................................59 8. Coefficients of Logistic Regression of Risk of Fetal Loss Based on Pregnancy Age and Race (NVSS 2013) ..................................................................................................................................61 vii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Fetal Loss Rate per 1000 Live Births, by Pregnancy Age and Race (Add Health, Multi-Level Regression) ....................................................................................................................................63 2. Fetal Loss Rate per 1000 Live Births, by Pregnancy Age and Race (NVSS 2016) ..................64 3. Fetal Loss Rate per 1000 Live Births, by Pregnancy Age and Race (NVSS 2013) ..................65 viii ABSTRACT This dissertation tests if fetal loss can be applied as an extension of prior literature on the weathering hypothesis. To do so, this study extends upon the weathering hypothesis: the observation that blacks experience substantially higher levels of stress than their white counterparts in the United States, that this gap only increases as individuals become