The Association Between Relationship Quality and Physical Health Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

Abstract

The association between relationship quality and physical health is well established. We examined whether this association was similar across different races and ethnicities. Relationship quality and health were assessed in three national samples from the United States: the National Survey of American Life, the National Latino and Asian American Study, and the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (N = 9,020). Relationship quality was positively correlated with overall health across races and ethnicities; however, the association between relationship quality and specific health problems was inconsistent. Finally, there were no reliable differences between racial or ethnic groups in the magnitude of the relationship quality and physical health association.

Stressful life events and adolescent well‐being: The role of parent and peer relationships

“…For example, Ma and Huebner (2008) note that parental relationships were stronger predictors of life satisfaction than peer relationships, with girls reporting higher levels of attachment to peers than boys. Overall, the quality of these peer relationships is particularly beneficial for psychological well-being (e.g., Tomé, de Matos, Camacho, Simões, & Diniz, 2014) and for improving health (McShall & Johnson, 2015). In fact, some research has suggested that for adolescents (Helsen, Vollebergh, & Meeus, 2000), peer relationship quality becomes more important than parental relationships (Furman & Buhrmester, 1992), with the benefits of peer relationships outweighing the effects of parental relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1994) for health.…”

Fathers’ and mothers’ attachment styles, couple conflict, parenting quality, and children’s behavior problems: an intervention test of mediation

“…We tested an alternative hypothesis -that the mediating link is not specific to mothers' or fathers' insecurity of attachment, but rather to their general psychological distress (symptoms of anxiety and depression), aroused when conflict between them as a couple is unresolved. Evidence for this hypothesis derives from large national studies of the A-B connection showing that poor marital adjustment (high conflict, low satisfaction) is associated with depression and anxiety in men and women (McShall & Johnson, 2015;Whisman, Robustelli, & Labrecque, 2018). Completing the second leg of a mediation analysis B-C), studies show that parental depression and anxiety are consistently linked with parenting behavior that is harsh, intrusive, or distant (Lovejoy, Graczyk, O'Hare, & Neuman, 2000;Teetsel, Ginsburg, & Drake, 2014).…”

Cultural Strengths of Latino-American Subgroups: Differential Associations With Their Self-Rated Mental and Physical Health

“…Accordingly, our null finding may imply that the relatively under-investigated cultural strength factors could be stronger predictors than SS, when three factors are investigated together in Latinos. It is also plausible that the function of SS may be better examined with more precise indicators containing more items (e.g., relationship quality, McShall & Johnson, 2015; or family bound, Ai, Aisenberg, et al, 2014; Ai, Pappas, et al, 2015; Sue & Sue, 2013) for Latinos.…”

“…It is well established that social connection and support in terms of one’s social capital can benefit individuals across racial and ethnic groups (McShall & Johnson, 2015). Relationship quality in social networks tends to be positively associated with the physical health of Latinos’ nationwide.…”