A scoping review of the physical health and psychological well‐being of individuals in interracial romantic relationships

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Patricia S. Pittman Calderon,Jen D. Wong,Barbara T. Hodgdon
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12765

RESEARCH

A scoping review of the physical health

and psychological well-being of individuals

in interracial romantic relationships

Patricia S. Pittman Calderon

1

|Jen D. Wong

1

|Barbara T. Hodgdon

1,2

1

Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio

State University, Department of Human

Sciences, Columbus, OH

2

Healthcare Workforce Data Center and Data

Analytics Division, Virginia Department of

Health Professions, Richmond, Virginia,

United States

Correspondence Patricia S. Pittman,

Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio

State University, 1787 Neil Avenue,

Columbus, OH 43210, USA.

Email: calderon.86@osu.edu

Abstract

Objective: A scoping review was conducted to document

the literature of the impacts of being in a romantic partner-

ship and better physical health and psychological well-

being for individuals who are in an interracial romantic

relationship.

Background: In the 50 years since Loving v. Virginia (1967)

overturned the ban on interracial romantic relationships,

the rates of interracial marriages have quintupled.

Although being in a romantic relationship has been

associated with better physical health and psychological

well-being outcomes, the population of individuals in

interracial romantic relationships has been overlooked.

Method: Informed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005), the

study’s objectives, inclusion criteria, and methods of analysis

for this review were specified in advance and documented.

Fourteen studies met the scoping review’s inclusion criteria.

Results: The articles were similar in five key areas: use of

theory, methods, physical health outcomes, psychological

well-being outcomes, and intimate partner violence. The

findings across the studies suggest that individuals in inter-

racial romantic relationships experience poorer physical

health and psychological well-being compared with indi-

viduals who partner within their own race.

Conclusion: The theorized benefits of being in a romantic

relationship do not seem to apply equally across individ-

uals, particularly among those in interracial romantic

relationships.

Author note: The first author was supported by funds from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the

Lucile and Roland Kennedy Scholarship Fund in Human Ecology.

Received:25May2021 Revised:7February2022 Accepted:21April2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12765

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use,

distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

© 2022 The Authors. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:2011–2029. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 2011

Implications: Providing support for interracial relationships

is critical because the rates of these relationships are

expected to increase, and individuals in these relationships

are faring worse, despite being more than 50 years removed

from anti-miscegenation laws.

KEYWORDS

interracial romantic relationship, physical health, psychological well-

being, scoping review

In the 50 years since the ban on interracial relationships (i.e., a romantic relationship in which

the partners are from different racial/ethnic backgrounds) was lifted in the United States in

Loving v. Virginia (1967), the rates of interracial marriages have quintupled (about 3% of newly-

weds in 1970 and 17% in 2017; Livingston & Brown, 2017). Being in a romantic relationship

has been theorized to be associated with better physical health and psychological well-being

outcomes (Gove et al., 1983; Liu & Umberson, 2008; Zhang & Hayward, 2006), but a thorough

investigation into whether these findings extend to interracial parings has been overlooked.

Compared with their White counterparts, racial minorities in the United States face worse phys-

ical health outcomes due to intersecting factors, such as the lack of access to health care and

poorer quality health care (Brown et al., 2000; James, 2017) and increased discrimination

(Phelan & Link, 2015). When an individual with a marginalized identity is also in a stigmatized

relationship (e.g., interracial), they are more susceptible to another layer of discrimination

(LeBlanc et al., 2015) and thus may not be experiencing the benefits associated with being in a

romantic relationship. To best understand these connections, it is imperative to conduct a thor-

ough examination of the literature on the physical health and psychological well-being of inter-

racial couples with a scoping review.

INTERRACIAL ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Investigation and documentation of the physical health and psychological well-being of individ-

uals in interracial relationships is critical for several reasons. The Supreme Court case Loving

v. Virginia (1967) declared the ban on interracial relationships unconstitutional; however, these

relationships are still stigmatized explicitly (e.g., family ostracization; Gaines, 2001) and implic-

itly (not wanting themselves/family members to be in an interracial relationship; Skinner &

Hudac, 2017). A Gallup poll (Newport, 2013) revealed a substantial shift where in 1958 only

4% of Americans found interracial dating acceptable, which increased to 87% in 2013. Despite

these legal and social shifts, the discrimination that interracial couples have historically faced

continues in the United States (Skinner & Hudac, 2017).

RELATIONSHIPS, PHYSICAL HEALTH, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

WELL-BEING

Past work has shown that individuals who are in romantic relationships experience higher levels

of physical health and psychological well-being outcomes than those who are not partnered

(Liu & Umberson, 2008; Simon & Barrett, 2010). Having a committed partner (i.e., cohabiting

and married) can help reduce stress and depression due to having someone to share problems

and financial resources (Thoits, 2011; Umberson et al., 2013; Waite & Gallagher, 2000).

Further, marriage has been shown to promote behaviors that improve self-rated health

2012 FAMILY RELATIONS