Sample descriptives
| All women (N=180) | White (n=64) | Hispanic (n=82) | Black (n=34) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | M±SD | n (%) | M±SD | n (%) | M±SD | n (%) | M±SD | p Value* | |
| Age (years) | 31.01±5.41 | 33.40±4.0 | 29.93±5.65 | 29.52±5.85 | <0.001 | ||||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.81±5.38 | 24.17±4.44 | 26.35±5.50 | 27.58±6.0 | 0.005 | ||||
| Highest education level | <0.001 | ||||||||
| <High school | 45 (25.0) | 1 (1.6) | 38 (46.3) | 6 (17.6) | |||||
| High school | 18 (10.0) | 1 (1.6) | 14 (17.1) | 3 (8.8) | |||||
| Some college | 34 (18.9) | 6 (9.4) | 15 (18.3) | 13 (38.2) | |||||
| Undergraduate | 38 (21.1) | 21 (32.8) | 11 (13.4) | 6 (17.6) | |||||
| Graduate | 44 (24.4) | 35 (54.7) | 4 (4.9) | 5 (14.7) | |||||
| Parity† | 0.094 | ||||||||
| 0 | 41 (22.8) | 21 (32.8) | 12 (14.6) | 8 (23.5) | |||||
| 1 | 65 (36.1) | 23 (35.9) | 30 (36.6) | 12 (35.3) | |||||
| 2 | 74 (41.1) | 20 (31.3) | 40 (48.8) | 14 (41.2) | |||||
| ICS use in past 12 months | 4 (2.2) | 2 (3.1) | 0 (0) | 2 (5.9) | ns | ||||
| Hair-related variables | |||||||||
| Shampooing | 0.017 | ||||||||
| <5 times/week | 122 (67.8) | 33 (51.6) | 60 (73.2) | 29 (85.3) | |||||
| 5 or 6 times/week | 16 (8.9) | 7 (10.9) | 6 (7.3) | 3 (8.8) | |||||
| Daily | 37 (20.6) | 21 (32.8) | 15 (18.3) | 1 (2.9) | |||||
| >1/day | 1 (0.6) | 1 (1.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |||||
| Colouration | 86 (47.8) | 30 (46.9) | 47 (57.3) | 9 (26.5) | 0.012 | ||||
| Chemical straightening | 20 (11.1) | 2 (3.1) | 3 (3.7) | 15 (44.1) | <0.001 | ||||
| Hair products used | 48 (26.7) | 16 (25.0) | 25 (30.5) | 7 (20.6) | ns | ||||
| PCL-C | 26.60±14.98 | 23.20±10.12 | 28.32±17.23 | 28.91±16.10 | 0.075 | ||||
| Hair sample availability by trimester | 0.030 | ||||||||
| T1, 2 and 3 | 100 (55.6) | 32 (50.0) | 52 (63.4) | 16 (47.1) | |||||
| T2 and 3 only | 65 (36.1) | 27 (42.2) | 27 (32.9) | 11 (32.4) | |||||
| T3 only | 15 (8.3) | 5 (7.8) | 3 (3.7) | 7 (20.6) | |||||
| Hair cortisol (pg/mg; log) | |||||||||
| T1 | 1.19±0.88 | 0.84±0.74 | 1.28±0.84 | 1.58±1.05 | 0.011 | ||||
| T2 | 1.18±0.81 | 0.89±0.76 | 1.27±0.75 | 1.56±0.87 | 0.001 | ||||
| T3 | 1.26±0.74 | 0.97±0.72 | 1.35±0.68 | 1.61±0.72 | <0.001 | ||||
*Differences by race/ethnicity were tested using one-way analyses of variance and Pearson χ2 tests.
†Parity reflects the number of previous children.
BMI, body mass index; ICS, inhaled corticosteroids; PCL-C, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist—Civilian Version.