Relationship Quality and Changes in Depressive Symptoms Among Urban, Married African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites

• Date: 01 July 2009
• Author: Jay Fagan
• Published date: 01 July 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2009.00551.x

A Publication of

the National Council on

Family Relations

JAY FAGAN Temple University

Relationship Quality and Changes in Depressive

Symptoms Among Urban, Married African

Americans, Hispanics, and Whites

Bivariate analyses showed that continuously

married urban African American, non-Hispanic

White, and Hispanic fathers and mothers report-

ing greater marital support and less relational

control experienced a decrease in depres-

sive symptoms. Multiple regression showed a

stronger association between concurrent marital

support and decreased depressive symptoms for

mothers than fathers. African American and His-

panic fathers reporting higher levels of spousal

relationship support when children were infants

reported a larger decrease in depressive symp-

toms when children were age 3 compared to

non-Hispanic Whites. Relationship control at

age 3 was positively related to increased depres-

sive symptoms among all groups except African

American fathers and White mothers. African

American and Hispanic fathers with marital

problems may need additional support services.

A growing body of research literature suggests

that married couples experience fewer symptoms

of depression, less stress, better health, and

a higher sense of well-being than couples

who are unmarried (e.g., Frech & Williams,

2007). These f‌indings are particularly important

Temple University, School of Social Administra-

tion, Ritter Hall Annex, 5th f‌loor, Philadelphia, PA 19122

(jfagan@temple.edu).

Key Words: African American, depressive symptoms,

Hispanic, marriage, relationship quality.

given the current trend for young couples

to form cohabiting relationships or to remain

single rather than marry, even following

the birth of children (Seltzer, 2000). A

signif‌icant gap in the literature on marriage

and health is the lack of research on the

association between these variables among low-

income individuals in different racial/ethnic

groups (Whisman, 2001). Knowledge about the

association between marriage and health across

racial/ethnic groups is important for policy

makers and practitioners involved in programs

designed to enhance couple relationships. This

study examined the association between fathers’

and mothers’ perceptions of relationship quality

and changes in their depressive symptoms during

the f‌irst several years following the birth of

a child among low-income African American,

Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White continuously

married couples using the Fragile Families and

Child Wellbeing (FFCW) data (McLanahan &

Garf‌inkel, 2000). The transition to parenthood

is a critical time because couples frequently

experience a decline in marital relationship

quality and are at heightened risk for increased

depressive symptoms (Lawrence, Rothman,

Cobb, Rothman, & Bradbury, 2008).

Background and Signif‌icance

There is ample evidence supporting the asso-

ciation between marital quality and depres-

sion in the general population. Whisman’s

Family Relations 58 (July 2009): 259– 274 259

260 Family Relations

(2001) meta-analysis of 26 cross-sectional stud-

ies examining the association between these

variables found an effect size of −.42 for

women and −.37 for men. Similar f‌indings have

been obtained from longitudinal studies of mar-

ital quality and subsequent depression (Beach,

Katz, Kim, & Brody, 2003; Dehle & Weiss,

1998). However, many of the available studies

lack ethnic diversity in their samples (Tucker

& Crouter, 2008). Accordingly, Whisman sug-

gested that different racial/ethnic groups may

show different patterns of association between

marital quality and depression, and factors that

inf‌luence their association may also be cultur-

ally based (see also Marks et al., 2008). The

present study focused on the two largest ethnic

minority groups in the United States – African

Americans and Hispanics. The marriage liter-

ature on these groups is reviewed in an effort

to demonstrate that married African Americans

with low-quality marital relationships are more

likely than married Hispanics and non-Hispanic

Whites to report increased depressive symp-

toms.

A signif‌icant shortcoming of studies on

marital quality and depressive symptoms is that

the vast majority are cross-sectional (Whisman,

2001). Longitudinal studies are better suited

to disentangle the associations between marital

problems and depressive symptoms because

the temporal aspect of these variables can be

addressed (Williams, 2003). Another benef‌it

of longitudinal data is that earlier levels of

depressive symptoms, which may correlate with

earlier marital problems, can be measured.

Studies that show increases in depressive

symptoms when there were earlier marital

problems further help to disentangle the

directions of relationships between variables

(e.g., Choi & Marks, 2008). This shortcoming

is addressed by using longitudinal data and by

examining changes in depressive symptoms and

earlier and concurrent marital quality.

Selection Perspective and Moderators

The selection perspective (Clarkwest, 2006) is

the basis for suggesting that African Americans

with low-quality marital relationships experi-

ence a greater increase in depressive symp-

toms than Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites.

The selection perspective assumes that African

Americans who marry are signif‌icantly differ-

ent from people in other racial-ethnic groups

on various characteristics (Kamp Dush, Cohan,

& Amato, 2003). In the selection view, pre-

existing characteristics are associated with the

odds that individuals will marry. These preex-

isting characteristics also handicap individuals

by increasing the odds that individuals will

develop depressive symptoms when problems

with marriage arise (Dooley & Prause, 2002).

Although research shows that African Ameri-

cans value marriage (Jarrett, 1994), they are less

likely to marry than non-Hispanic Whites and

Hispanics (Lloyd, 2006). Crissey (2005) found

that African American youth were signif‌icantly

less likely to expect to ever marry compared

to non-Hispanic White youth. Hispanic cultural

ideology focuses on familism, def‌ined as plac-

ing a high value on the importance of marriage

and family (Vega, 1990). Recent data showed

that Hispanic women were 30% more likely to

marry than African American women by age 24

(U.S. Census Bureau, 2003). Although Hispanic

women who have children outside of marriage

are less likely to ever marry than non-Hispanic

Whites, they are signif‌icantly more likely to

marry than African American mothers (Graefe &

Lichter, 2002). Pinderhughes (2002) attributed

the low rate of marriage among African Amer-

icans to the shrinking pool of marriageable

African American males as a consequence of

high death rates, poor health care, high rates of

drug and alcohol abuse, gang activity, and incar-

ceration. However, others attribute the low rate

of marriage to selection factors such as attitudes

about economic insecurity and poverty, attitudes

about marriage, and religiosity (Edin & Reed,

2005; Tucker, 2000).

Research has revealed differences between

African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispa-

nic Whites in relation to the attitudes about

f‌inancial security and actual f‌inancial resources

(e.g., poverty) of individuals who marry and

those who do not. Findings from the 21-city sur-

vey showed that African Americans were more

likely than any other group to attribute marital

success to having an adequate income (Tucker,

2000). Unmarried African American women

were also signif‌icantly more likely than unmar-

ried White women to report that their decision to

marry would depend on a potential mate’s steady

employment in the labor force (Bulcroft & Bul-

croft, 1993) and f‌inancial stability (Edin & Reed,

2005). African American men who had stable

employment were twice as likely to be married

as men who did not have stable employment