Hey Safyer, your responses were packed with insight. I found myself trying to unpack and reword them for my own understanding, so I figured I would post what I came up with as my response. If I’m misunderstanding anything, let me know =)
I’ve added some comments/suggestions at the bottom of my rephrasing.
Research Question 1:
How much does gestational diabetes affect cardiovascular disease later in life amongst different racial groups? SES is associated with gestational diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so it would be treated as a confounder.
Research Question 2:
Does antibiotic use during pregnancy affect the incidence of low birth weight? Among women of color, those with low SES may see more of a benefit from antibiotic use that those with high SES, possibly due to higher incidence of infections treated with antibiotics. Here SES is modifying the effect of antibiotic use.
Comment: It would be interested to then check to see if this modifying effect would remain true for women of other racial or ethnic categories.
Research Question 3:
Does maternal nativity affect adverse birth outcomes? Among Black women in California, being born outside the country and then coming to California may be associated with higher SES factors, which is associated with less adverse birth outcomes. SES mediates the effect of nativity.
Comment: I wonder if SES might alternatively be considered a confounder in the study, perhaps if it was found that those born outside of California had higher SES factors that allowed them to come to California. Maybe assessing SES factors both before and a few time points after the arrival in California would help in deciding how to treat SES in the study.
I’ve added some comments/suggestions at the bottom of my rephrasing.
Research Question 1:
How much does gestational diabetes affect cardiovascular disease later in life amongst different racial groups? SES is associated with gestational diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so it would be treated as a confounder.
Research Question 2:
Does antibiotic use during pregnancy affect the incidence of low birth weight? Among women of color, those with low SES may see more of a benefit from antibiotic use that those with high SES, possibly due to higher incidence of infections treated with antibiotics. Here SES is modifying the effect of antibiotic use.
Comment: It would be interested to then check to see if this modifying effect would remain true for women of other racial or ethnic categories.
Research Question 3:
Does maternal nativity affect adverse birth outcomes? Among Black women in California, being born outside the country and then coming to California may be associated with higher SES factors, which is associated with less adverse birth outcomes. SES mediates the effect of nativity.
Comment: I wonder if SES might alternatively be considered a confounder in the study, perhaps if it was found that those born outside of California had higher SES factors that allowed them to come to California. Maybe assessing SES factors both before and a few time points after the arrival in California would help in deciding how to treat SES in the study.