Maternal Stress and Pregnancy Outcomes Evidence from a Natural Experiment

The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2234869
AutoresMarco Cozzani (0000-0003-1037-8472, Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS), European University Institute (EUI), San Domenico di Fiesole I-50014, Italy, autor de correspondencia), Moris Triventi (0000-0002-2713-2957, University of Trento), Fabrizio Bernardi (0000-0002-5544-5184, Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS), European University Institute (EUI), San Domenico di Fiesole I-50014, Italy)
Año2022
Volumen38
Número3
Páginas390-407
Fecha de publicación2022-05-24
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEuropean Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0266-7215 • E-ISSN: 1468-2672
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/esr/jcab045
OpenAlexW3203177535
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas65

Previous studies have shown that the reproduction of social background inequality starts at birth and even in the womb. We advance the understanding of the inequality in early life outcomes by analysing whether prenatal stress affects prematurity and low birth weight and how this effect varies by parental socio-economic status (SES). To address the endogeneity of prenatal maternal stress and pregnancy outcomes, we use a natural experiment and consider the 2004 Madrid train bombings as an exogenous source of stress. We analyse administrative data referring to the whole population of newborns in Spain between 2000 and 2005 and use a difference-in-differences design with a synthetic control approach. We find that children exposed to the Madrid bombing had a higher risk of prematurity and low birth weight, and that this detrimental effect is consistently concentrated among low-SES offspring. We discuss four possible mechanisms to explain this heterogeneity and rely on findings of previous research and on information from additional data to test their plausibility. In the conclusions, we highlight the broader implications of our findings for the reproduction of social inequalities across generations

Biology · Birth weight · Demographic economics · Econometrics · Economics · Endogeneity · Inequality · Low birth weight · Natural experiment · Offspring · Population · Pregnancy · Prenatal stress · Reproduction · Sociology · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology