Birthing Pains: Investigating the Effects of Race and Pregnancy Status on Pain Perception and Treatment

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of large racial and ethnic discrepancies in maternal health outcomes, particularly in the treatment of pain, psychological research examining pain perception and pain treatment in Black and White pregnant women is scarce. The present study aimed to address this major deficit in the literature by investigating differences in White individuals’ perceptions and treatment of the pain of women as a function of their race (Black or White) and pregnancy status (pregnant or non-pregnant). The role of implicit racial bias in moderating the effects of target race and target pregnancy status on participants’ responses was also examined. The sample consisted of 499 White-identifying Americans of at least 18 years of age. Participants were presented with a photograph and vignette about a fictitious female subject. After examining the photograph and reading the vignette, they provided pain-related judgments and allocated treatment to the subject. Responses were indexed into a pain perception score, a pain-related responsibility score, and a treatment score. Participants also completed a race-based implicit association task (IAT) to measure their implicit racial bias. Participants’ responses on all three indexes for Black vs. White and pregnant vs. non-pregnant subjects, as well as the degree to which their implicit racial biases moderated the effects of race and pregnancy status on their responses, were analyzed. The results obtained were generally not consistent with predictions, indicating the necessity for additional research in order to gain a thorough understanding of all phenomena at play. Nevertheless, this study is a first step in providing much-needed insight regarding racial differences in the pain perception and treatment of Black and White, pregnant and non-pregnant women.