Background: This systematic review explores the empirical literature addressing the association between parental preconception adversity and offspring physical health in African-American families. Method: We conducted a literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Scopus through June 2021. Articles were included if they: reported data about at least two generations of African-American participants from the same family; measured parental preconception adversity at the individual level; measured at least one offspring physical health outcome; and examined associations between parental adversity and child health. Results: We identified 701 unique articles; thirty-eight articles representing 30 independent studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty-five studies (83%) reported that parental preconception adversity was associated with child health; six studies (20%) reported that parental preconception adversity was not associated with at least one offspring outcome; several studies reported both. Only six studies (20%) reported an association specific to African Americans. Conclusion: Empirical evidence linking parental preconception adversity with offspring physical health in African Americans is limited and mixed. In the current literature, very few studies report evidence addressing intergenerational associations between parental preconception adversity and offspring physical health in the African-American population, specifically, and even fewer investigate forms of parental preconception adversity that have been shown to disproportionately affect African Americans (e.g., racism). To better understand root causes of racial health disparities, more rigorous systematic research is needed to address how intergenerational transmission of historical and ongoing race-based trauma may impact offspring health among African Americans.

背景：本系统评价探讨了解决非裔美国家庭中父母先入为主的逆境与后代身体健康之间关联的实证文献。方法：我们在 PubMed、Web of Science、PsycINFO、CINAHL 和 Scopus 中进行了文献检索，截至 2021 年 6 月。如果文章符合以下条件，则纳入文献： 报告了来自同一家庭的至少两代非裔美国人参与者的数据；在个人层面测量父母先入为主的逆境；测量至少一项后代身体健康结果；并检查了父母逆境与儿童健康之间的关联。结果：我们确定了 701 篇独特的文章；代表 30 项独立研究的 38 篇文章符合纳入标准。25 项研究 (83%) 报告称，父母孕前逆境与儿童健康有关；六项研究（20%）报告称，父母孕前逆境与至少一项后代结局无关；几项研究报告了两者。只有六项研究（20%）报告了特定于非裔美国人的关联。结论: 将非裔美国人的父母先入为主的逆境与后代身体健康联系起来的经验证据有限且参差不齐。在目前的文献中，很少有研究报告证据表明非裔美国人人口中父母孕前逆境与后代身体健康之间的代际关联，特别是研究已证明对非裔美国人影响不成比例的父母孕前逆境形式（例如， 种族主义）。为了更好地了解种族健康差异的根本原因，需要更严格的系统研究来解决历史和持续种族创伤的代际传播如何影响非洲裔美国人的后代健康。