Parents' Experiences of Discrimination and Family Relationship Qualities: The Role of Gender

Abstract

Mothers and fathers in 156 African American families reported on racial discrimination experiences, gendered traits, and warmth and conflict in family relationships. Discrimination was linked with relationship quality, but links differed for mothers and fathers. More expressive parents and less instrumental fathers had more positive relationships in the face of discrimination, but for more instrumental fathers, discrimination-relationship quality links were negative. Findings imply consideration of sociocultural and individual characteristics for family relationships. Keywordsexpressivity; gender; instrumentality; racial discrimination; relationship quality Racial discrimination is common in the lives of African Americans, with 60-90% of African American adults reporting at least one incident of discrimination per year (Kessler, Mickelson, & Williams, 1999;Landrine & Klonoff, 1996). In turn, many studies show that discrimination is a stressor that is linked to men's and women's reports of poor psychological functioning and mental health (Bennett, Merritt, Edwards, & Sollers, 2004;Fischer & Shaw, 1999;Lincoln, Chatters, Taylor, & Jackson, 2007). In the face of research on individuals' reactions to discrimination, however, we know little about how experiences of discrimination affect families. Research on racial discrimination also documents consistent gender differences, with males reporting more frequent experiences of discrimination than females (Kessler et al.; Stevenson, Cameron, Herrero-Taylor, & Davis, 2002). Although a body of research suggests that males and females react differently to stressful experiences (Taylor 2006;Taylor, Klein, Lewis, Gruenewald, Gurung, & Updegraff, 2000), we know very little about the potentially different responses of males and females to the stressors of racial discrimination.Links between stressful experiences and family relationships have been documented in European-American families (e.g. Taylor et al., 2000), but research examining the implications of psychosocial stressors for African American family relationships is limited. Although some empirical work has documented associations among stressful events, discrimination experiences, and mothers' family relationships (Murry, Brown, Brody, Cutrona, & Simons, 2001;Murry et al., 2008), there are gaps in this literature. First, we know little about the potential impact of racial discrimination for African American families who do not face chronic stressors. In addition, research on African American families has often focused on single parents, who tend to be mothers, and we know little about Grounded in research and theories of stress and gender, the overarching goal of this study was to assess how racial discrimination experiences, one type of contextual stressor, influence the nature and quality of parent-adolescent, coparenting and marital relationships. Further, to determine whether discrimination-family relationship links were different for mothers and fathers, we tested the moderating role of parent gender, and ...

Healthy African American Families in the 21st Century: Navigating Opportunities and Transcending Adversities

“…In addition to examining internal processes that forecast health functioning, attention also was given to examining ways in which racial discrimination might derail family processes (Riina & McHale, ). Findings in the present study revealed that these demoralizing experiences amplified the negative effects of everyday stressful life events on parents' psychological functioning.…”

Does Spousal Support Moderate the Association Between Perceived Racial Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms among African American Couples?

“…As such, women may be more likely to provide support to their partners who experience racial discrimination and feel the need to protect them from such social injustices (Cowdery et al., ). Furthermore, women are more likely than men to display and report internalizing symptoms (Banks et al., ), whereas men's responses may present themselves in outward expressions or externalizing symptoms (e.g., Goff, Di Leone, & Kahn, ; Riina & McHale, ). When female partners do not provide this support, men may internalize their stress either in place of or in conjunction with externalizing symptoms.…”

The Importance of Racial Socialization: School‐Based Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity Among African American Adolescent Boys and Girls

“…Research suggests that the absence of positive racial messages and messages that make adolescents aware and prepared for the potential of racial discrimination is especially detrimental for youth who experience racial discrimination (Neblett. et al., ; Riina & McHale, ).…”