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The Impact of Racial Discrimination on African American Fathers’ Intimate Relationships

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Abstract

African Americans have a lower marriage rate and report lower relationship quality than whites. Experiencing stress associated with racial discrimination and financial strain may impact the intimate relationships of African American fathers, yet this topic is underexplored. We used a clinic-based sample of African American fathers in Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC (N = 203), to examine (1) the relationship between socioeconomic factors and experiences of racial discrimination and (2) the extent to which racial discrimination, financial stress, and perceived stress are associated with marital status and intimate relationship quality for African American fathers. Education was positively associated with the racial discrimination, and relationship quality was negatively associated with perceived stress and racial discrimination. Perceived stress mediates the relationship between racial discrimination and relationship quality. Addressing interpersonal and institutional racism may impact relationship quality for African American men.

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Acknowledgements

Data from this study are derived from the Child Community Health Network (CCHN). It also appears that many people are falling under the Baltimore, MD umbrella but thats not quite right. The attribution of other sites like Washington DC and North Carolina should stand alone. The CCHN is supported through cooperative agreements with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U HD44207, U HD44219, UHD44226, U HD44245, U HD44253, U HD54791, U HD54019, U HD44226-05S1, U HD44245-06S1, R03HD59584) and the National Institute for Nursing Research (U NR008929). Members of each site are listed below.

Baltimore, MD:

Baltimore City Healthy Start, Johns Hopkins University

Community PI: M. Vance Academic PI: C. S. Minkovitz; Co-Invs: P. O’Campo, P. Schafer

Project Coordinators: N. Sankofa, K. Walton

Lake County, IL: Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center, the North Shore University Health System

Community PI: K. Wagenaar

Academic PI: M. Shalowitz

Co-Invs: E. Adam, G. Duncan*, A. Schoua-Glusberg, C. McKinney, T. McDade, C. Simon Project Coordinator: E. Clark-Kauffman

Los Angeles, CA: Healthy African American Families, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles

Community PI: L. Jones

Academic PI: C. Hobel; Co-PIs: C. Dunkel Schetter, M. C. Lu; Co-I: B. Chung

Project Coordinators: F. Jones, D. Serafin, D. Young North Carolina: East Carolina University, NC Division of Public Health, NC Eastern Baby Love Plus Consortium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Community PIs: S. Evans, J. Ruffin, R. Woolard

Academic PI: J. Thorp; Co-Is J. DeClerque, C. Dolbier, C. Lorenz

Project Coordinators L. S. Sahadeo, K. Salisbury

Washington, DC: Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Virginia Tech, Washington Hospital Center,

Developing Families Center

Community PI: L. Patchen

Academic PI: S. L. Ramey; Academic Co-PI R.G. Lanzi

Co-Invs: L. V. Klerman, M. Miodovnik, C. T. Ramey, L. Randolph

Project Coordinator: N. Timraz Community Coordinator: R. German

Data Coordination and Analysis Center DCAC (Pennsylvania State University) PI:

PI: V. M. Chinchilli

Co-Invs: R, Belue, G. Brown Faulkner*, M, Hillemeier, I. Paul, M. L. Shaffer

Project Coordinator: G. Snyder

Biostatisticians: E. Lehman, C. Stetter

Data Managers: J. Schmidt, K. Cerullo, S. Whisler

Programmers: J. Fisher, J, Boyer, M. Payton

NIH Program Scientists: V. J. Evans and T. N.K. Raju, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; L. Weglicki, National Institute of Nursing Research, Program Officers: M. Spittel* and M. Willinger, NICHD; Y. Bryan,* NINR

Steering Committee Chairs: M. Phillippe (University of Vermont) and E. Fuentes-Afflick* (University of California—San Francisco School of Medicine)

*Indicates those who participated only in the planning phase of the CCHN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, 485 E. Gray St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Jelani Kerr

  2. Baltimore Healthy Start, Baltimore, MY, USA

    Peter Schafer & Maxine Vance

  3. Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Armon Perry

  4. Division of Paediatric Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Julia Orkin

  5. Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Julia Orkin

  6. Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Julia Orkin & Patricia O’Campo

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  1. Jelani Kerr
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  2. Peter Schafer
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  3. Armon Perry
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  4. Julia Orkin
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  5. Maxine Vance
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  6. Patricia O’Campo
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Correspondence to Jelani Kerr.

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Kerr, J., Schafer, P., Perry, A. et al. The Impact of Racial Discrimination on African American Fathers’ Intimate Relationships. Race Soc Probl 10, 134–144 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-018-9227-3

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