1. •• Abdou CM, Dominguez TP, Myers HF. Maternal familism predicts birthweight and asthma symptoms three years later. Soc Sci Med. 2013;76:28–38. The epidemiological paradox and other health literatures have hypothesized that cultural resources contribute to better outcomes during pregnancy and early life, but few studies have tested this empirically. This study investigated whether the nonmaterial cultural resource of familism was protective against low birthweight and asthma symptoms three years later in African American, Latino, and White families, most of whom were facing socioeconomic disadvantage. Familism, independent of ethnicity and lifespan family socioeconomic position, was found to be associated with better outcomes—namely, higher birthweight and fewer asthma symptoms by age three.
2. •• Abdou CM. Minority aging before birth and beyond: life span and intergenerational adaptation through positive resources. In: Whitfield K, Baker T, editors. Handbook of minority aging. New York: Springer Publishing Company; 2013. p. 9–24. This chapter introduces Aging Before Birth and Beyond, a lifespan and intergenerational model of human development. It also directly links this lifespan and intergenerational view of aging to minority health and health disparities. It discusses the importance of positive psychology, and nonmaterial cultural resources in particular, for advancing understanding of heterogeneity in minority health. This discussion is guided by the Culture and Social Identity Health Theory (CSIH), a theoretical framework for examining independent and interactive effects of culture and social identities on health. The four premises of this theory include (1) social identities impose powerful constraints on culture by making certain beliefs, attitudes, and experiences more salient, (2) culture can have direct effects on health that are independent of links to social identity, (3) culture often exerts its effect on health by moderating social identity-based (e.g., ethnic and socioeconomic) disparities, and (4) intrapersonal and interpersonal processes—including the psychosocial process of healthcare stereotype threat—underlie both culture and social identity effects on health.
3. Abdou CM, Dunkel Schetter, C, Jones F, et al. Community perspectives: mixed-methods investigation of culture, stress, resilience, and health. Ethn Dis. 2010;20(Suppl 2):41–8.
4. Abdou CM, Dunkel Schetter C, Campos B, et al. Communalism predicts prenatal affect, stress, and physiology better than ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Cult Divers Ethn Minor Psychol. 2010;16(3):395–403.
5. Shiono PH, Rauh VA, Park M, Lederman SA, Zuskar D. Ethnic differences in birthweight: the role of lifestyle and other factors. Am J Public Health. 1997;87(5):787–93.