Center for Family Research, University of Georgia, 1095 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30602-4527, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2013 Jun;42(6):878-90. doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-9935-3. Epub 2013 Mar 14.
Accumulating evidence suggests that African American men and women experience unique challenges in developing and maintaining stable, satisfying romantic relationships. Extant studies have linked relationship quality among African American couples to contemporaneous risk factors such as economic hardship and racial discrimination. Little research, however, has examined the contextual and intrapersonal processes in late childhood and adolescence that influence romantic relationship health among African American adults. We investigated competence-promoting parenting practices and exposure to community-related stressors in late childhood, and negative relational schemas in adolescence, as predictors of young adult romantic relationship health. Participants were 318 African American young adults (59.4% female) who had provided data at four time points from ages 10-22 years. Structural equation modeling indicated that exposure to community-related stressors and low levels of competence-promoting parenting contributed to negative relational schemas, which were proximal predictors of young adult relationship health. Relational schemas mediated the associations of competence-promoting parenting practices and exposure to community stressors in late childhood with romantic relationship health during young adulthood. Results suggest that enhancing caregiving practices, limiting youths' exposure to community stressors, and modifying relational schemas are important processes to be targeted for interventions designed to enhance African American adults' romantic relationships.
越来越多的证据表明，非裔美国男性和女性在发展和维持稳定、满意的浪漫关系方面面临独特的挑战。现有研究将非裔美国夫妇的关系质量与当前的风险因素联系起来，例如经济困难和种族歧视。然而，很少有研究探讨在童年后期和青春期影响非裔美国成年人浪漫关系健康的背景和内在过程。我们研究了在童年后期促进能力的养育实践和接触社区相关压力源，以及在青春期形成的消极关系模式，作为年轻成年人浪漫关系健康的预测因素。参与者是 318 名非裔美国年轻人（59.4%为女性），他们在 10 至 22 岁期间提供了四个时间点的数据。结构方程模型表明，接触社区相关压力源和促进能力的养育实践水平低会导致消极的关系模式，这是非裔美国年轻人成年后关系健康的直接预测因素。关系模式中介了童年后期促进能力的养育实践和接触社区压力源与成年早期浪漫关系健康之间的关联。研究结果表明，增强养育实践、限制年轻人接触社区压力源以及改变关系模式是针对旨在增强非裔美国成年人浪漫关系的干预措施的重要目标。
