Racial discrimination and the weathering of nonmarital relationships

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of perceived racial discrimination on the satisfaction and dissolution of different-gender, nonmarital relationships among African American young adults. Background: Racial discrimination has proven detrimental to relationship quality among married couples. Racial disparities in relationship processes begin long before marriages form, however. Racial discrimination may also weather and disrupt nonmarital relationships earlier in the life course. Method: Survey data from African American young adult couples (N = 407) from the Family and Community Health Study were used to assess the associations between each partner's experience of racial discrimination, relationship satisfaction, and relationship dissolution using structural equation modeling.Results: Results support a stress spillover perspective in that racial discrimination experienced by both men and women increased the likelihood of relationship dissolution through reduced satisfaction. No support was found for a stress buffering perspective. Conclusion: Racial discrimination appears to distress and, ultimately, disrupt nonmarital relationships among African American young adult couples. Implications: Given the roles of relationship quality and stability in promoting health and well-being, understanding how discrimination impacts the unfolding of relationships, or linked lives, across the life course is essential to untangling and addressing the "chains of disadvantage" identified by Umberson et al. (2014) as central to racial disparities in health and well-being.

From Organizing Medicine to Cooking With More Leafy Greens: A Dyadic, Qualitative Analysis of How Older African American Couples Take Care of Each Other’s Health

“…However, AAs remain an understudied population with regard to health management within romantic couples (Bonds et al, 2021; Bonds Johnson et al, 2022; Skipper et al, 2021), despite growing health disparities in the aging AA population as well as disparities in health care access and utilization (Copeland, 2005; Cunningham et al, 2017; Flegel et al, 2013). These disparities persist in aging AA communities, due in part to the multiple stressors that AA couples face from racism and systemic discrimination (Barr et al, 2022; Jenkins et al, 2020; Williams, 2020). Each of the health promotion behaviors that surfaced in this study can directly (diet, exercise, medical compliance) or indirectly (self-care, relationship maintenance) influence these chronic issues.…”

Strengthening couple functioning promotes resilience to COVID-19-related stressors among Black Americans.

“…Accordingly, it is unknown to what degree these other stressors contributed to or obscured resilience effects observed in the present study. Because experiences of racism tend to have negative effects on relationships (Barr et al, 2022; Lavner et al, 2018), it is possible that these other stressors may have partially obscured stress-buffering effects.…”