Invited commentary on the “Race and Well‐Being” section of the Transformative Family Scholarship Special Issue

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Shardé McNeil Smith
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12795

EDITORIAL

Invited commentary on the “Race and Well-Being”

section of the Transformative Family Scholarship

Special Issue

Family scientists have a critical responsibility to address racism and center social justice in

theory, research, and practice to fulfill its mission to “strengthen interpersonal relationships and

their overall well-being”(National Council on Family Relations, 2022). The theme of this

section, race and well-being, calls attention to the diverse ways in which the well-being of cou-

ples and families are affected by race as a social construct but, more importantly, racism as an

organizing principle in the United States. In this commentary, I aim to offer a critical analysis

about these articles paying particular attention to (a) the role of race and racism as central con-

structs impacting families, (b) how interlocking systems of oppression are essential to under-

standing the heterogeneity of families, and (c) the contributions and advances of this work for

social justice in theory, research, and practice.

CENTERING THE IMPACT OF RACISM ON FAMILIES

This section includes five scholarly articles focused on marginalized family systems whose well-

being is intricately tied to the socially constructed notion of race. Each of these articles advances

our knowledge on how ethnically and racially diverse families in the United States must con-

tend with navigating systemic forms of inequity and racialized oppression.

Using the racial position model and the integrative model for minority children as guiding

frameworks, Wen et al. examined within- and between-person effects of cultural stressors (eth-

nic discrimination, cultural misfit, foreigner stress) on internalizing symptoms in a sample of

604 low-income Mexican-origin adolescents. They also tested the role of low parent–child alien-

ation as a resource. Their results indicate that adolescents reporting more cultural stressors had

more internalizing symptoms (anxiety and depressive symptoms). Furthermore, findings

showed that low parent–child alienation buffered the negative effect of cultural stressors on

their internalizing symptoms.

Dorsey examined the role of fathers for Black daughters’sexual well-being and sexual

decision-making processes using data from 17 semistructured interviews. Guided by the theory

of gender and power, paternal investment theory, and intersectionality, Dorsey found that

(a) fathers sent direct and indirect messages to their daughters about sexual risk behaviors and

how to navigate dating and intimate partnerships and (b) daughters recognized their value

through the provision of protection by their fathers.

In a scoping review of 14 peer-reviewed articles related to interracial relationships and

health, Calderon et al. set out to examine whether the health benefits of being in a committed

relationship were also evident for partners in interracial relationships. These scholars found that

being in an interracial relationship conferred a higher risk for poor physical health and lowered

Received: 11 October 2022Accepted: 14 October 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12795

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

2066 Family Relations. 2022;71:2066–2069.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare