Love, Health, and the 'Hood: An Examination of Romantic Relationship Adjustment and Perceived Neighborhood Quality as Predictors of Partnered Black Americans' Long-Term Psychological Health

• Published in: Journal of psychopathology and clinical science 2023-07, Vol.132 (5), p.531-541
• Main Authors: Jenkins, August I. C., Fredman, Steffany J., Gamaldo, Alyssa A., King, Valarie, Almeida, David M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjustment; African Americans; Black or African American - psychology; Black People; Female; Gender differences; Health disparities; Health Status Disparities; Human; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Interpersonal Relationships; Intersectionality; Long term; Love; Male; Men; Mental Health; Mental Health - ethnology; Midlife; Negative Emotions; Neighborhood Characteristics; Neighborhoods; Personal relationships; Positive emotions; Psychological well being; Relationship Quality; Romance; Sex Factors; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 2769-7541; 2769-755X; 2769-755X
• DOI: 10.1037/abn0000821

Existing disparities regarding Black Americans' psychological health warrant further investigation of socioecological factors that may be associated with negative and positive dimensions of psychological health in this population. Romantic relationship functioning and neighborhood context are two domains relevant to Black Americans' mental health. However, less is known about how they may serve as independent and interactive prospective predictors of Black Americans' psychological health and potentially in distinctive ways for Black men and women. Using data from 333 partnered Black Americans who participated in the Midlife in the United States study, we investigated relationship adjustment and neighborhood quality as independent and interactive predictors of negative and positive affect 10 years later and examined gender differences in these linkages. Higher neighborhood quality predicted lower levels of negative affect and higher levels of positive affect for both men and women a decade later. Additionally, for Black men, the longitudinal association between relationship adjustment and negative affect differed by neighborhood quality such that better relationship adjustment predicted higher subsequent negative affect only for men in lower quality neighborhoods. Findings demonstrate the connections among romantic relationship functioning, ecological resources, and gender in this population and highlight the importance of incorporating socioecological and intersectional perspectives for predicting Black Americans' long-term psychological health. General Scientific SummaryThis study suggests that living in higher quality neighborhoods is related to greater positive aspects and lower negative aspects of psychological health over time for Black Americans. Moreover, for Black men specifically, better romantic relationship functioning is connected to poorer psychological health when they reside in lower quality neighborhoods.