Goal:
To test the effects of maternal stress and prenatal social support on birth outcomes controlling for medical risk factors including smoking and drug use
Design:
A prospective study of 130 women following each prenatal visit through postpartum with in-depth psychosocial interviews (range of 5 to 12 assessments per participant) conducted in English or Spanish and abstraction of maternal and newborn records.
Site:
UCLA Public Prenatal Clinic (1984-1987) with 85% participation rate
Sample characteristics:
63% Latina/20% Black/12% Anglo/5% Other 68% multiparous 28 years on average (range 18 to 40) 11 yrs education on average 58% married 1/3 employed in second trimester
Funded by: March of Dimes
PI: Chris Dunkel Schetter
CoPI: Susan Scrimshaw, Calvin Hobel
Project Coordinator/CoInv: Marci Lobel
Selected Publications
Collins, N. L., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Lobel, M., & Scrimshaw, S. C. (2004). Social support in pregnancy: Psychosocial correlates of birth outcomes and postpartum depression. Reprinted in H. T. Reis & C. E. Rusbult (Eds.). Key readings in social psychology: Close relationships (pp. 35-56). Psychology Press. View file: 
Neter, E., Collins, N. L., Lobel, M., & Dunkel-Schetter, C. (1995). Psychosocial predictors of postpartum depressed mood in socioeconomically disadvantaged women. Women’s Health: Research on Gender, Behavior and Policy, 1(1), 51-75. View file:
Collins, N. L., Dunkel-Schetter, C., Lobel, M., & Scrimshaw, S. C. (1993). Social support in pregnancy: Psychosocial correlates of birth outcomes and postpartum depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(6), 1243-1258. https://doi.org/0022-3514/93/S3.00 View file:
Lobel, M., Dunkel-Schetter, C., & Scrimshaw, S. C. M. (1992). Prenatal maternal stress and prematurity: A prospective study of socioeconomically disadvantaged women. Health Psychology, 11(1), 32-40. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.11.1.32 View file:
Lobel, M. L., & Dunkel-Schetter, C. (1990). Conceptualizing stress to study effects on health: Environmental, perceptual, and emotional components. Anxiety Research, 3, 213-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/08917779008248754 View file: