Citation
Tillman, Kathryn H. & Miller, Byron (2016). Family relationships and the psychological well-being of interracially dating adolescents. Annual Meeting of the Southern Demographic Association. Athens, GA.Abstract
This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine the role of family relationships in explaining psychological wellbeing differentials between adolescents who date interracially and adolescents who date same-race partners. We find that interracial daters face significantly higher levels of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms than their peers in same-race relationships, and their lower levels of family support and parent-child closeness and higher levels of parent-child conflict appear to explain a substantial portion of this disadvantage. The findings also suggest that the negative effect of interracial dating on depressive symptoms holds similarly across gender and among White, Black and Hispanic youth, but not among Asian youth. In fact, among Asian daters, those involved in interracial relationships appear to experience significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms. The association between racial composition of relationship and anxiety-related symptoms is not moderated by gender or race/ethnicity.Reference Type
Conference proceedingBook Title
Annual Meeting of the Southern Demographic AssociationAuthor(s)
Tillman, Kathryn H.Miller, Byron