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Separate black and white infant mortality models: Differences in the importance of structural variables

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  • Bird, Sheryl Thorburn

Abstract

In the United States, the disparity in black and white infant mortality persists despite reductions in overall infant mortality. In 1988, 23 of the 50 states had a black infant mortality rate that was more than twice as large as its white infant mortality rate. This study assesses whether state-level structural variables relate differentially to states' black and white infant mortality rates. With the state as the unit of analysis, separate black (N = 34) and white (N = 50) multivariate models of infant mortality were produced and compared. The structural variables accounted for 57.7% of the variance in states' black infant mortality rates and 35.2% of the variance in states' white infant mortality rates. Proportion black, percent with bachelor's degree or higher, percent below poverty, and the index of dissimilarity each made a unique contribution to the black infant mortality model. Percent with bachelor's degree or higher was the only measure that made a significant unique contribution to the white infant mortality model. Thus, although both black and white infant mortality rates were higher in states with smaller percentages of the population having a bachelor's degree or higher, black infant mortality rates were also higher in states where proportionately more black persons lived, where there were higher levels of residential segregation in the urban areas, and, contrary to what was expected, where smaller percentages of the population lived below the poverty level. This study supports the need for race-specific models of infant mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Bird, Sheryl Thorburn, 1995. "Separate black and white infant mortality models: Differences in the importance of structural variables," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 41(11), pages 1507-1512, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:41:y:1995:i:11:p:1507-1512
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    Cited by:

    1. Mehra, Renee & Boyd, Lisa M. & Ickovics, Jeannette R., 2017. "Racial residential segregation and adverse birth outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 237-250.
    2. Hutchinson, Rebbeca N. & Putt, Mary A. & Dean, Lorraine T. & Long, Judith A. & Montagnet, Chantal A. & Armstrong, Katrina, 2009. "Neighborhood racial composition, social capital and black all-cause mortality in Philadelphia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1859-1865, May.
    3. Niemesh, Gregory T. & Shester, Katharine L., 2020. "Racial residential segregation and black low birth weight, 1970–2010," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Chang, Virginia W., 2006. "Racial residential segregation and weight status among US adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1289-1303, September.
    5. Do, D. Phuong & Frank, Reanne & Iceland, John, 2017. "Black-white metropolitan segregation and self-rated health: Investigating the role of neighborhood poverty," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 85-92.
    6. Ioana Popescu & Erin Duffy & Joshua Mendelsohn & José J Escarce, 2018. "Racial residential segregation, socioeconomic disparities, and the White-Black survival gap," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Veni Kandasamy & Ashley H Hirai & Jay S Kaufman & Arthur R James & Milton Kotelchuck, 2020. "Regional variation in Black infant mortality: The contribution of contextual factors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Graham Moon & Ross Barnett & Jamie Pearce, 2010. "Ethnic Spatial Segregation and Tobacco Consumption: A Multilevel Repeated Cross-Sectional Analysis of Smoking Prevalence in Urban New Zealand, 1981–1996," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(2), pages 469-486, February.
    9. Borrell, Luisa N. & Kodali, Hanish & Rodriguez-Alvarez, Elena, 2021. "Interracial/ethnic marriage and adverse birth outcomes: The effect of neighborhood racial/ethnic composition," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    10. Kramer, Michael R. & Cooper, Hannah L. & Drews-Botsch, Carolyn D. & Waller, Lance A. & Hogue, Carol R., 2010. "Metropolitan isolation segregation and Black-White disparities in very preterm birth: A test of mediating pathways and variance explained," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2108-2116, December.

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